Can't Say I love You
by swtjapgrl
Summary: Aizawa Mina transfers to Seigaku and she's Tezuka's new neighbor. Even if she is an opposite from Tezuka, they have two things in common: they easily attract people but they don't believe in love.
1. Chapter 1: So it begins

Disclaimer: I'm not good enough to own Prince of tennis

Chapter 1: So it begins…

"Mina-chan! Come down here right now" mom lilted.

Oh what is it?? "Coming mom!" I answered as I hopped down the stairs.

This was my second day in Tokyo. My father moved his piano corporation to Tokyo. He explained that since the parts were cheaper and since Tokyo was the capital, there should be more business here so our family had to move over here.

"Yes mom?" I questioned as I landed on the last step.

"Mina-chan meet Tezuka san, our new neighbor and her son Kunimitsu-kun. He's the same age as you, 13 years old and he attends seishun gakuen."

Tezuka san was a young mother of about 35 and the main adjective to describe her was friendly looking. Brown curly hair, pale white skin and warm brown eyes. Her son, Kunimitsu was it? He greatly resembled his mother if his expression expressed any emotion. Honey colored brunette some blonde streaks, probably from the sun and pale white skin and he wore glasses that was see through to his matching chestnut brown eyes.

"Hi! I'm mina nice to meet you tezuka oba-chan (sorta like Mrs.) and kunimitsu kun." I smiled the friendliest smile I could produce and bowed politely.

"Maa your daughter is so cute!!! Kunimitsu say something!" Tezuka's mom urged her son.

"Hello I'm pleased to meet you also Aizawa-san." Tezuka sounded like a robot with a baritone voice.

I smiled once again but uncomfortably. I hate robots, makes me think about what to say… though there was no need to. My mother was here to disrupt the silence.

"kunimitsu kun can you show Mina the way to school while I have some chat you're your mother?" Oh great just what I need…walk the robot..where's the leash? He might get out of control.

"Sure..." He slowly paced out of the door while I followed him closely.

"Your daughter is so cheerful. Kunimitsu needs a friend like her." Tezuka's mom sighed as she rested on the couch with her hands around a tea cup.

"Tezuka kun were you born in this city?" I questioned nervously, afraid to break the silence. He may answer like a robot but he's presence gave a cold tension. At least he's not trying to walk behind or in front of me. That's the well-mannered part.

"Yes."

"Oh…then you must know practically everything in this city."

"Yeah." Great he's not only good at automatic answering but he's good at ending conversations too…

"What's this court for Tezuka kun?"

"Oh this court is used for gate ball.(game similar to golf but hit with a short hammer and a heavier ball through a small plastic gate) senior citizens come play on Saturdays and its used for soccer games sometimes."

"Do you play any sports?"

"Tennis."

"Really? Me too! How many years did you play for? We can play together sometimes?...well that is if I'm good enough to play you." I added sheepishly.

" Sure." One word answer…again. Am I that boring??

"Ah look tezuka kun!" I pulled his arm towards street full of sakuras(cherry blossom tree) " Sakura! It's so beautiful." I gazed at it for awhile and closed my eyes to inhale the fresh spring smell. It was April and sakuras were blooming continuously. Pale pink and soft, these petals reminds me of angel's tears. So magical that I'm afraid my touch would ruin its delicacy. When I opened my eyes, a breeze blew and some petals gently kissed my cheeks. When I turned to Tezuka he was gazing at me. It was an expression hard to read. He seemed just like a statue with an indifferent expression yet piercing through my soul.

"School is this way. Make a left here."

"Seeing sakura makes me feel nostalgic. There were many of them in kanagawa also.

Were there always so many sakura trees in Tokyo?"

"I never paid attention to them." Well improvement. At least he said 6 words….

"Ok school is here. Pretty close right?" he questioned as I stood in front of an enormous white gate hiding 3-6story buildings.

"Yeah"

T: Aizawa san do you remember the road?

M: I remember. But tezuka kun is it possible to show me around the school tomorrow? I hope we're in the same class.

Silence Do I take that as a yes? Man I hate passive people like you… Oh well I'll see him tomorrow.

We walked by the shotengai(little shops bunched up together.)

"Hi kunimitsu" the tofu store owner called out.

"Hi oji-san (sorta like mister.)"

"Hey you have a new girlfriend already? I would be envious if I was your age! She's cute!"

"No she's my new neighbor" Stony faced

"Hello Oji-san I'm Aizawa Mina nice to meet you" bows traditionally

After that I greeted few more people.

"So that's the tofu store, cotton candy store and convenient store over there…" explained Tezuka.

"Wow you seem to know everyone around here. Everyone seems so friendly here."

"It is a pretty small city so you'll eventually be familiar with the people around here."Firmly "Welcome to the family Aizawa san."

And even though it was just for a second, I think I saw his mouth curve into a smile. I was truly astonished on the inside as I smiled back.

_Read and Review Please!! How do you like it??_


	2. Chapter 2: Robot Tezuka

Disclaimer: I'm not good enough to own pot…

Chapter 2: Robot Tezuka

yawns why do I have to be escorted by the robot? I said I remember the road!!!

Flashback

"Mom I'm back" I took off my shoes and placed it in the shoe cabinet and put on my slippers. I motioned for Tezuka-Kun to follow me and offered him a pair of guest slippers. Ayana Tezuka was still talking to mom and they seemed to be getting along extremely well. I was really happy to see mom smile so much. Work and dad's absence seem to take a lot out of her. Having a close friend would help mom enjoy herself more.

"Wow it's getting late I should get back to cook dinner. Thank You for having us over and oh! Mina chan you can have Kunimitsu walk you to school everyday. It's not safe for a pretty girl to walk by herself." (Is she serious??!!)

"Oh yes and I can relax that a gentleman like Kunimitsu Kun will escort my daughter to school," mom chimed in.

"Ehh that's okay! I remember the road. I will be a trouble to Tezuka kun!" I was in a state of concealed panic.

(No thank you! Blows raspberryDo you know what I have to go through when I have to walk with him?!)

Tezuka was silent and calm as I expected him to be.

Through my mom's overprotective quality, I ended up walking with the robot to school. What a happy ending…not.

I was enjoying the cool April sunshine when he came out of his house. I was dressed in a green tea colored uniform with a cotton candy pink bow in the middle. I loved the Seigaku uniform. So fresh and makes me feel like a hummingbird. Tezuka came out with a white short sleeved dress shirt and slacks; one of a disadvantage of being a guy, the uniform is so plain.

Me: noticing the big duffel bag he carried Oh Tezuka Kun can you introduce me to tennis coach? I want to join tennis. Good thing school year just began.

"Mmm hm," he nodded while staring straight.

Me: (I Might as well shut my mouth before the robot gets really annoyed of me)

So we didn't talk the rest of the way and after what seemed like a 1000years, we reached school.

He walked me to the administration office and found out we were in the same class.

Girls stared at Tezuka as he scurried by and I had to powerwalk to stay behind him.

I hope people don't think I'm stalking him!

I heard people gossiping like "Tezuka kun's so cute!!" "Yeah like he's cold expression is so cool!" and hissing of "Who's that girl with chocolate brown hair? How dare she walks with my Tezuka?!"

(hahah you girls insane? I would never want to walk with him if I didn't have to!)

Tezuka slid open the door to class 1-A and he quickly approached a colored haired boy with beautiful crystal blue eyes while I walked up to the teacher's desk.

"Ohayo Tezuka," the sky blue eyes began to be concealed as his lips curved into a smile.

Tezuka nodded as a response.

My teacher Miwa Hiroko assigned me to sit two rows in back of Tezuka. I couldn't help but to say I'm relieved. I don't hate Tezuka or anything but being his neighbor and walking mate, I need time to breathe and think about how to keep up a conversation with him.

First Period was Geometry, my favorite. I banged all the questions my teachers asked and volunteered to do problems on the board. After English was 20 minutes break time. I was stretching and was about to take a walk when a monotonous voice said

"Aizawa san would you like me to show you around the school?

I turned around to face my best friend in the world…not! However, being showed around the school was not completely boring.

We passed by the Gymnasium, the two humongous buildings that was occupied by second years and third years, small hill near the back of the school, the small pond with koi's in it. I paused at the pond and gazed at the Koi swimming around. It's really peaceful to watch them since they seem so carefree. Afterwards, we visited the school pets: a rabbit and a chicken. Surprisingly, Tezuka even loosened up a bit.

"Hmm that rabbit reminds me of someone."

"Hmm?" I was surprised he would start up a conversation.

"…the rabbit reminds me of Hori sensei. Don't you think so?"

"Tezuka kun just because she's pregnant, don't make fun of her! But we can say Hori sensei's eyes are as lovely as the rabbit's eyes." I was confused whether to gasp or laugh.

"Yes so lovely and red. I want to offer eye drops."

I laughed instantly but Tezuka kun kept a solemn face.

After classes, Tezuka led me to the tennis court along with Fuji (the owner of crystal blue eyes) and Oishi Syuichiro. Oishi kun is a very sociable person though I was secretly amused at his lemon shaped head and two whisker like bangs. He seems to idolize Tezuka.

Ryuzaki Sumire, was a strict, rough, yet sincere coach. Though most girls were afraid of her, she seemed like reliable, old fashioned and kind-hearted coach. She graciously welcomed me and Tezuka walked off to the boy's locker room while I walked into the girl's locker room. After I got out of the locker room, I saw a chestnut brown haired boy with his back towards me rallying well with Oishi and Fuji on the other side of the court.

I was impressed with the boy's rallying skill. The other two may hit it into corners but he always got the ball. Oishi kun hit the net and noticed me.

"Hi aizawa san! Tezuka kun is so strong! He's been rallying with us a couple of minutes and we made him run so much but he didn't break a sweat yet!"

"Oh that's tezuka kun??" (Wow what a robot)

After glancing up and smiling at Tezuka for a minute, I walked toward the girls' practice court, which was 3 courts lined up together horizontally next to the boy's courts. I saw a long black haired girl with pearl white skin and I asked her if I could rally with her. The rule of Seigaku was that freshmen are not suppose to practice with the regulars. However, the captain, Minamoto Arisa saw me rallying and she asked me to join the practice with the regulars.

The effect of harsh practice was refreshing. 30 laps around the courts, 50 forehands, 50 backhands, 30 serves, 20 smashes and 10 lobs. What way to live.

"OK that's really good guys you can go home now. By the way Aizawa san you're great!" our captain said melodiously. I admired our captain. Hardworking, pleasant and kind, she will be able to lead any army to victory in the future.

I rushed into the locker room and changed like a road runner. I have so much homework I must get home now!

"Uh-oh Tezuka are you trying to watch girls change??" A boy with flaming red hair stated while shaking his finger at Tezuka.

"No Kikumaru I'm obligated to wait for my neighbor." Tezuka answered automatically.

I walked out just as Tezuka finished his sentence and found myself face to face with the red-head.

"Sorry!" I apologized as I backed off a step.

"Nya?!! She's so cute!" he shouted as he bounced up and down.

"Hoi! I'm Kikumaru Eiji," he reached out a hand as he landed, "I transferred here 3 days ago. And I live with my dad, mom, sister…"

"Ok that's enough. 5 laps Kikumaru."

"Nya!! Oishi!! Tezuka's being naughty by keeping a cute girl to himself!! Oh nya your name?"

"I'm Aizawa Mina nice to meet you. smiles"

"Shall we go Aizawa san? Kikumaru I'll make you run ten laps if you bother her anymore."

"Going going captain of the freshmen!! Oh SHE's your neighbor? Stingy Tezuka!!" Kikumaru pouted as he jogged over to the courts. I was quite amused.

"Sorry for troubling you Tezuka kun. Did you wait long?"

"No" (Grumpiness hints out that the answer is yes…)

"Kikumaru kun seems so adorable and energetic. Is he good in tennis?"

"He's been here only three days but I saw his acrobatics and they're very unique."

"Wow acrobatics…Did you personalize any moves in tennis?"

"I'm known for performing a zero-shiki drop shot and tezuka zone."

"Tezuka zone?"

"I can show you when we play in the tennis court in your house or my house."

"Ok!" (Wow he actually said he'll play me)

By that time we reached home. Time passes by quick when you talk.

"Thanks for everything Tezuka Kun. Time to do our research report so good luck to both of us."

I disappeared behind my gate while he disappeared behind his.

Kunimitsu Tezuka…there's so much to learn about him but cracking him is not so easy…

_I hope you found this chapter interesting…I know Tezuka is a bit out of character…_


	3. Chapter 3: Party at Tezuka's house

**Disclaimer: I'm not good enough to own pot**

**Chapter 3: Party At Tezuka's House!**

"Bye mom and dad!" I exclaimed as I ran down the stair at a "let's have a tennis match" speed.

"Mina be careful!" Dad warned

"My..my. Many people say my daughter is cute and ladylike but they never saw this side of her." My mother chuckled as she put her hand through my smooth chocolate brown hair.

"Haha the genetics are inherited. You guys are deceiving also! Daddy may seem like a kind boss but no one knows how stingy and messy he is!"

"Hey Mina!" my dad tried to catch me to tickle me but my tennis skills has given me the agility. I grabbed a carton of orange juice and headed toward the door.

When I exited my gate, Tezuka was already standing in front of his gate.

"Morning Tezuka Kun!" and looked at him with my usual smile as I approached him.

"Morning Aizawa san." His expression was stoic and indifferent, which I am used to by now.

"Aizawa san, today is my mother's birthday. She wanted to ask if you and your parents are able to come over."

"Oh I think my mother mentioned that to me." I scrunched up my face to recall if my mother said anything about it.

"Aizawa san can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure what is it?" I was surprised since Tezuka was always so independent.

"Can you help me select a gift for my mother?"

"Sure! I need to look for a gift for your mother also."

"Oh no it's fine. Please don't worry about it."

I tried to suppress my laughter but I couldn't.

"Aizawa san did I say something disturbing?"

"No" I breathed out while laughing. "Hahah sorry Tezuka kun you talk so polite it's hard to believe you're a guy! You don't have to be so polite or you'll become too girly!"

"…."

Though he was silent, I saw him smirk as he was looking down. I hope pretty soon he can show me his emotional expressions…

Time passed by quickly since I was busy for the whole day and it was time for me and Tezuka to buy gifts.

"Ah Tezuka kun turn right here." I said as I pointed to a small gift shop called Bouquet.

"Isn't this store cute? I saw it when I was exploring around the other day."

As usual, I received the silence as an answer so I searched through the shelf of stuffed animals first.

"Tezuka kun what do you think of getting her a bouquet of flowers?" I asked as my eyes wondered toward the flower cooler.

"I'm not sure. Can I leave it to you Aizawa san?"

"Okay but do you want it wrapped like that (points at the Hong Kong style wrap) or do you want it wrapped with cellophane and a bow?"

"I think that's nice. (points at the Hong Kong wrap)."

"Then what color do you want the roses to be dipped in? Red is for passion, pink is for innocent love and yellow is friendship. Ehh I suggest pink."

"Okay…"

While the flowers were being wrapped, I was staring at a stuffed animal shaped like a huge rooster.

"Aizawa san what are you looking at?" Tezuka said curiously eyeing my furry friend.

"Isn't this cute?" I exclaimed as I smiled back at his horrified expression. At that moment, I accidentally touched comb of rooster.

"You're so cute!" I told the rooster while smiling at it. "Ehh the top of the head is movable?" (Moves the comb again)

"I love you rooster!"

"Uh oh it recorded my voice…"

Tezuka gave me a grin that seems to show that I broke down his wall of insecurity.

While we stood there smiling, the salesperson said that she was finished wrapping.

"Hmm I think I'll come back with my mom to determine what your mom wants. Middle aged women should know the ideal gift for each other.

We walked back quietly as usual until we reached our homes

"Aizawa san did you know that the birthday party is formal?"

"Eh? I didn't know but I don't mind since my parents always have formal parties to attend."

"Ok see you at 6 then"

(Yawns) I was pretty tired and I didn't feel like attending the party. But of course, knowing my parents, they will drag me even if I was sleeping. I ended up dressing in my dark purple semi-formal dress that was decorated with glitters and flowers. I left my hair straight down my back since I just washed it and placed a glittering purple headband on my head. I didn't put any make up but I decided to curl my eyelashes. Tezuka's gates were open at 6 and I got to take a good look at his garden. Many fruit trees and flowers but what I saw most of was bonsai. I wanted to stay to look at the plants more but I decided to go in first with my parents to greet the Tezukas first. His house was exquisite. Floors and stairs covered with burgundy colored carpet that may be similarly served for a queen walking down the red carpet, white walls that gleamed due to the coat of wax over it and huge grand piano matched well with the red carpets.

As we walked in, we caught sight of Mr. and Mrs. Tezuka chatting with their acquaintances and Tezuka around his tennis friends: Kikumaru Eiji, Fuji Syusuke, Oishi Syuichiro, and Kawamura Takeshi and Inui Sadaharu.

I had no idea they were so intimate outside of school. They seemed to have noticed me but I walked up to greet Mrs. Tezuka first since it was her birthday. Following my mom, I greeted her with a hug and wished her a happy birthday. She introduced me to her husband, who was as rigid as her son but also courteous and sincere. Just as I turned around, I came face to face with the red head Eiji again.

"Mina Chan come over here to talk to us!" Kikumaru cheerfully said as he gently tugged on my arm.

I gave a small bow as I walked up to the group of class mates. I noticed Tezuka was wearing a lavender shirt and three stoned amethyst necklace that was the exact color as my dress.

"Thank you for awhile ago Aizawa san. My mother loved the flowers."

"Oh no problem, you decided most of it anyway."

"Nya I told you guys Tezuka was keeping Mina chan to himself! They already went on a date already!"

Tezuka turned into a shade of burgundy while the rest of us chuckled.

We chatted about tennis or more like we listened to Kikumaru and Oishi talk about tennis, until my mother called me.

"Mina can you play the piano for Mrs. Tezuka? We were talking about you and she was interested to hear you play."

"Ehh in front of everyone?" I whispered in horror.

"(nods) you should be used to it. You've had recitals since you were 8."

_I wouldn't have any problem if the group of guys were not there…_

"Honey this would be a personal present to Mrs. Tezuka from you"

"ok…ay" I reluctantly agreed because I saw Mrs. Tezuka looking at me from 2ft away.

Mrs. Tezuka looked content as as she saw me walk towards the piano and she sat on the chair next to the piano.

Everyone stared at me and became silent when I sat on the piano bench. I felt nervous but I covered it up with a smile towards Mrs. Tezuka. I felt the seigaku boys' gaze on me like nails being driven on my back. Painful yes, but I hope I can get this over with fast.

So I played the piece I had memorized recently: Nocturne in E flat major by Frederic Chopin. When I started to play the piano, nothing was going through my head except for the next music note. The duration was 4Minutes and 5 seconds. I pressed hard at times to emphasize the crescendo and pressed softly to change the dynamics. In what felt like 30 seconds, I was done with the piece. Everyone started clapping and when I stood up, I gave a small bow facing Mrs. Tezuka.

"Nocturne in E flat major by Chopin isn't it mina chan?" Mrs. Tezuka questioned me, her eyes slightly filled with tears.

"Hai."

"I used to love that piece! I used to dance to it very often!" she said nostalgically.

"I'm very impressed. Though you are young, you played that piece as though a shadow of Chopin was with you." Mr. Tezuka said in a bass voice.

_Wow that's how Tezuka kun got his deep voice._

"I'm honored" I gave another bow towards the Tezukas.

"Talk about dance shall we all dance?" Mrs. Tezuka said cheerfully.

To my astonishment, all of the guests exclaimed "Yes!"

Dance music was heard throughout the huge living room such as Waltz, Polka and Samba.

Not knowing what to do, I tried to walk back to my parents. I was surprised at myself for being so anti-social. Usually, I would walk around trying to get to know as much people but I couldn't help it. I felt extremely shy around the Seigaku boys. Unfortunately, to get to my parents, I had to walk by the Seigaku boys.

"Aizawa san you were great!" Oishi complimented which gave me the impression of a mother hen jumping up and down.

"Yeah you looked like a pro!" Kawamura was calmer without a raquet.

"Good Data…good data…" Seigaku's data machine mumbled.

"You look so hot sitting there with that serious expression nya!"

"Kikumaru Eiji!" Tezuka, Fuji and Oishi exclaimed at the same time.

"Then I'm honored" I laughed at Kikumaru's remark I felt relieved that they liked my performance.

"Aizawa san do you dance?"

"Yes but I haven't danced in a while…" I answered as I stared into the crystal blue eyes that rarely opens.

"Okay then can I have the honor to dance with you?"

Before I could answer, Fuji dragged me on to the dance floor. I heard Kikumaru yelling something but I couldn't hear the exact words since a samba song was playing. _Great, this involves a lot of spinning…I should have waited for waltz or something…_

As I predicted, I was forced to spin one after another but I noticed Fuji kun was a great dancer. His grip on my hand was not too tight or loose, he placed his hand firmly on my waist and his quick foot work led me easily.

"Wow Fuji Kun you're a great dancer!"

"Thank you. So are you. My sister loves dancing and she practices with me whenever she needs to go to a party or a ball."

"Oh you have a sister? What is she like?"

But before Fuji was able to answer the question, I felt a hand pulling me away from Fuji. By the glimpse of red hair I figured out it was Kikumaru. _Oh my..this guy is too energetic._

"Hoi time to switch Fuji!" Fuji smiled and let go of my hand.

"Hi Kikumaru kun" _man I'm tired…_"you dance also?"

"Of course I'm a pro danya!"

And the words Pro and energetic was the exact words to describe Kikumaru. On a cha cha cha song, his energy fit perfectly and he furiously spun me around and in addition, he performed a 360 spin.

"Kikumaru kun do you…"

"Just call me Eiji everyone does except for Tezuka"

"Oh then (hesitates) Eiji do you dance waltz? Seems like with your characteristics, you don't like waltz?"

"Ehh? Why nyat? That's Kikumaru special!"

And sure enough he proved me wrong when the next song turned out to be waltz. His lively characteristics seem to have evoked the real quality of waltz. It was a lot of fun to dance with Kikumaru since he was so carefree. However Oishi was next in line.

"Aizawa san may I have this dance?"

I nodded along with a smile and let go of Kikumaru's hand. Looking at his bangs made me have the desire to tape it up on his head. Carefully, I suppressed my giggles as I stepped back to avoid stepping on his foot for the Polka. Oishi was not a great dancer but he was a gentle man that fits the image of Polka. His foot work is slow yet so accurate that it was easy for me to follow, making our movements more graceful.

"Oishi kun, how do you know how to dance?" I questioned to tear his gaze away from his feet.

"Being Eiji's friend has many benefits including dance skills."

"Oh wow you guys sure have a strong friendship. So who leads when you two dance?"

"We take turns since I need to learn how to lead also."

"Oh I see… (grins devilishly) which role do you like better?"

"Aizawa san! Are you trying to say I fit the female part better?"

"(LOL) I'm just asking you Oishi kun…"

"(blushes) I think the female part since I don't have the responsibility of leading."

After his response, we both bursted out laughing. I had a feeling his response was what he had said.

Tired and thirsty, I walked back to where the Seigaku boys were sitting and Fuji handed me a cup of fruit juice.

"Thank you. No wonder you're known as a tensai, you're so psychic!" I retorted as I sat down next to him. (Noticing Inui and Kawamura were missing)"Oh? Where's Inui kun and Kawamura kun?"

"Hoi too bad he was taken by that woman, Shiba san, I think from Monthly pro tennis I told him he can take Mina chan next and Inui was kidnapped by one of Mrs. Tezuka's daughter."

"Wow Inui kun is mote mote!" ( Mote mote means easily liked by the opposite gender) I laughed as I gazed at the back of a black haired girl and a nervous looking Inui. The girl's head came to Inui's chest, symbolizing great height difference. But even so I thought they made a cute looking couple.

Just when I thought I'll rest my brain from figuring out what dance the music asked for, my eyes fell on Tezuka. _Tezuka kun had been standing there the whole time…he must be bored. _I felt obligated to dance with him since I danced with everyone else except for him and Kawamura kun.

I got up slowly and walked toward Tezuka and took hold of his hands.

"Tezuka kun will you dance with me?" I inquired with a soft expression as I looked into his chestnut brown eyes.

"(Hesitantly) But Aizawa san aren't you tired? Besides, I don't really know how to dance."

_Oh I see now you don't know how to dance! Is that why you're so hesitant right now?_

"(Laughs) I'm fine and I'll show you how to dance. It might be helpful for other parties that you would need to attend."

While I held onto his bony hands, I slowly pulled him to the dance floor. We caught the guests' attention since they mostly thought of Tezuka as an anti-social boy.

"Tezuka kun the basic hold position for (Pauses to determine what type of dance it is) …rumba is put your back straight."

My left hand smoothed his back to urge him to straighten his back. I felt his back twitch by the way. Your left hand holds my right hand and your right hand on my waist.

He nervously placed a hand on my waist but due to his insecure feeling, his fingers tickled my waist.

"Ahhh ….Sorry Tezuka kun I'm sort of ticklish…don't move your finger too much. Oh and relax…I won't hurt you so don't hold on to my hand too tight."

He obediently released the tension on his hand

"Okay then in rumba, the female leads so follow me. (Puts the right foot back and he follows though with a wrong foot)

_Oh my…this will take awhile…Tezuka has no music rhythm inside of him…_

After about 2 songs, he had stepped on my foot three times

Me: Tezuka kun did you want to try leading me for awhile?

"Sure but Aizawa san how is your foot?"

"(Laughs) Oh it's fine don't worry about it. I was worse when I started."

"When did you start?"

"(Stepping up to follow him) mmm like when I was about 7 because my parents had to attend parties for business negotiations and stuff like that. My father taught me how to dance but he had a hard time since I was really ticklish." I chuckled at my childhood memories.

Tezuka smirked again and he motioned for me to spin and pulled me in afterwards.

"Wow Tezuka kun when did you learn to do that?"

"I was watching the other guys dance with you."

"Oh wow A+ students can just watch and learn huh? You must be a natural born dancer. Oh I love this song!"

"This song?" he questioned as he tilted his head to listen to the song.

"Yes, it's from a movie titled "Innocent steps" and the song is called Thousand Years by Kang Eun Soo." 

_Moment, you came to my heart just by chance to me… _

_you don't seem to be a stranger  
It was so long for you to finally find me_

For 1000 years I've been waiting for you  
More than million tears fall in eternal love  
Remember forevermore,  
We will stand for 1000 years

Sometimes I know it will not be easy with you  
Until then I will pray for our true love  
Don't ever forget, my love  
We will be together

For 1000 years I've been waiting for you  
More than million tears fall in eternal love  
Remember forevermore,  
We will stand for 1000 years

Don't say I don't want to hear you say good bye  
Please promise me you will always be my love, my love

For 1000 years I've been waiting for you  
More than million tears fall in eternal love  
Remember forevermore,  
We will stand for 1000 years

As I listened to the song, I gently spun and placed my head close to Tezuka's shoulder.

Mean while…

"Hmm this looks like a matter of time…" Kawamura blurted out.

"Cuteness can sure melt the bitter part off a bittersweet person." Fuji added, his eyes concealed.

"Oy Should we be gossiping? What if Aizawa san doesn't think of Tezuka that way? She danced with all of us also except with Taka san and Inui. What if she just didn't want to leave out Tezuka?" Oishi, the mother hen fluttered around.

"That might be true…She's sweet but she doesn't seem as simple as she wants us to believe." Of course the tensai always had to give an "I know something you don't know" comment to maintain his nickname.

"Nya? Me confused but like she's one of the best girls I've ever met."

"Yeah, she's so fun and talented." Oishi chimed in.

"She might be just the one for Tezuka. Any one want to bet on how much time it takes for them to get together?" Oh how Fuji loved to bet.

"Hmm she does look good with Tezuka but hoi I want her too! (pouts)"

"I think within 2 years. (Smiles that sadistic smile)" Tensai was sure loving this.

"Hmm 50 chance they'll get together in junior high year. 50 is any time beyond that. I can never predict Tezuka right" the data man huffed and puffed from his dance.

While the tennis boys were having fun betting and gossiping at our expenses, Tezuka and I slowly danced in a circular motion to my favorite song.

_Review Please! I really want to know your opinions! So who would you guys want to dance with if you were given the chance?_


	4. Chapter 4:Getting to know each other

Dsiclaimer: I'm not good enough to own pot

Chapter 4

At about midnight, all the guests left except for my parents and I since we were helping the Tezukas clean up. After I placed the last dishes inside the sink, I collapsed on the sofa. Tezuka seated himself next to me right after.

"Aizawa san does your feet hurt since you're wearing heels?" he questioned with a stoic expression but with concerned eyes.

"Oh no I'm used to it thanks. But I feel a bit light headed. It must have been too much music for one day." (Sticks out my tongue) "Oh by the way Tezuka kun did you like dancing?"

"Yes if I don't have to lead my partner."

"(Laughs) then you should dance with Kikumaru kun or Fuji Kun. They're great! (Mischievously) maybe if they have the chance, they'll even want to carry you up."

" …I like to feel stabilized." It was amazing how we can carry on a normal conversation even if we've only known each other for a month. When he's at school, he seems like an emotionless rock

"Hey you two. Having fun?" Mrs. Tezuka popped out from the back of the couch.

I smiled while her son quickly looked away.

"Aizawa san(meaning my parents) please try this wine that I received from France before you leave. (Hands two margarita cups to my parents)" mr. Tezuka announced with this extremely deep tone.

"Oh while we have our adult time, Kunimitsu dear, show Mina chan around the house." Mrs. Tezuka motioned for Tezuka to leave.

Tezuka got up and he waited for me to follow. He walked up the red velvet stairs and entered the first room we encountered.

"(He held open the door for me to enter first) This is my room."

It was plain yet neat and tidy. Blue sheets, white wall, no decorations, cabinet filled with books.

"(Laughs) If you led me to this room without telling me who's room it was I would have been able to guess it was your room. I can feel your characteristics: straightforward, serious, and hardworking."

"Oh how cute!! How old were you at this age?" I said when I caught a sight of Tezuka in his younger years.

" …About 9." He answered as though he was embarrassed.

" Haha the same Grumpy looking Tezuka kun. Do you ever smile for pictures?"

" Rarely…(Walks out to the veranda)"

"(Follows him) Wow you can see all the stars here!! If you turn off the light it must feel like you're part of the sky."

Just as I said that he turned off the light.

"Now that you mentioned it I never tried that. I look out the veranda sometimes but I never stay for long to enjoy the scenery"

Even if it was dark, his tennis court and swimming pool were visible. Then I noticed something when I stared our straight from his veranda.

"Wow my room is straight across from yours!"

I recognized my pile of books and a teddy bear that showed through my window.

_Hmm I feel too close to Tezuka kun. I need my personal space!_

We stood for awhile on the veranda staring at the colorfully lit city and the sky. I was really glad Tezuka talked a lot more than we first met. Hopefully, as time passes by, he can talk to me comfortably as though he was talking to a family member.

When Tezuka and I walked down the stairs, my parents stood up to leave.

"Thank you for the fun we had today, (Bows)" my mom thanked them graciously. Her face was a bit pink since she wasn't used to drinking,

"No, the pleasure was ours. Thank you for coming over today." Mrs. Tezuka replied very traditionally.

"It was a pleasure meeting you. Your son is a mature gentleman, hard to find sons like him these days." Dad added while he patted Tezuka on the shoulder and his eyes fell on me.

"Mina, are you all right? You look pale. You better rest right away when you get home." With that he picked me up bridal style.

"Sorry I think I reached my limit for today. Thank you for today and happy birthday oba chan."

The next morning I woke up with a slight headache but other wise I was fine. It was a sunny Sunday morning and on a beautiful like this what to do better than homework? Please don't vomit at this….Also if I have time I should study for the test that's on next Monday. Homework sure takes a lot of concentration so when I heard a knock on my door I was ready to jump out of my skin.

"You can come in!!" _Who can it be? Neither mom nor dad knocks on the door._ I found Tezuka sheepishly opening the door.

"Hi Tezuka kun.You can come in next time without knocking. The sound startles me." I greeted him warmly.

After yesterday, talking to him seemed easier than before, he must have lowered his barriers a bit.

"Aizawa san, how are you feeling?"

"Oh I'm fine sorry about yesterday. Is oba chan here also?"

"Yes my mother came over saying something about baking pastries with your mother."

"Have a seat on the couch or something. I'll bring tea over."

"Oh you started on the math homework that's due in 4 days?" he inquired as he strolled over to my desk.

"Yes because I have time and this way I can study for the test that's on next Monday."

"Aizawa san, do you mind if I work on it with you?" I was astonished since he seems to be an independent person.

"Of course not but Tezuka Kun you're so smart, it's not like you need my help or anything."

"(smiles) But studying with helps me to concentrate more and I don't understand how to do #32 but seems like you've done with it already."

_He smiled again. He seems like a different person when he smiles. And that smile petrifies me…_

"I'll go get my belongings." My longer robotic friend said as he walked out the door.

(Sighs)_ This is going to be one uncomfortable day. _

In just about 5 minutes, Tezuka came back with the resources needed to do homework of all subjects. Since my desk was long, I pulled an extra chair into my room and seated him next to me. We started working quietly and asked each other questions when we weren't sure of the answer. Being with Tezuka wasn't that uncomfortable except when our hands or elbows bumped in to each other, talk about needing personal space... Having him working in my room helped me concentrate more since I couldn't daydream. After about 2 hours, I had finished one week of homework for all classes and I was ready to take a break I stretched my arms out, (my arm missed Tezuka's head by about 3 inches though he did not see it) and I moved closer to him to see what he was working on.

"Tezuka kun what are you working on?" I questioned curiously, wanting to know what the genius, (I think the top students in my class are Inui and Tezuka) was working on.

Just as I said that, I saw that he was barely starting on a literary composition due tomorrow.

"(Laughs) Tezuka kun you're such a procrastinator!!!" I exclaimed confused whether to be amused or shocked.

"Yes I'm well aware" he replied emotionlessly.

"Mina and Tezuka kun do you guys want any snacks?? We're done!!" my mom called from the bottom of the stairs.

"Ok I'm going to get us something. You have to stay here Tezuka kun until you finish that!!!"

"… (Continues working)"

I smiled and went out the door. I was rooted to the floor when I approached the kitchen. What I saw on the plates were gorgeous.

" …Mom, are these edible? They look too pretty to be eaten…"

"heheheh I knew Mina would like it. Yes they're edible. They're mochi shaped into the traditional princess doll set. Also with food coloring, fruits, red beans…" mom went on and on about ingredients, not noticing that she lost me on the first item she listed.

The mochis were beautiful and so fragile looking that one mortal touch seems like it would be destroyed.

"Mina Chan try one. We made them for you and Kunimitsu to enjoy."

"But oba chan eating them would seem like we're cannibals. They seemed infused with life…" I added dramatically, and the two women fell into hysterical laughter.

"Just a middle school girl but she's capable of giving such a high complement. (Ruffles my hair) we're glad you like them. But we would like you to taste it too." Tezuka's mom insisted.

So I tried a small bishop shaped mochi which contained mung bean paste inside.

The taste was as good as the appearance.

"I'm going to take some up to Tezuka kun. He's busy with his literature homework."

"Oh you guys are doing homework? What a Mina thing to do…Don't bother Kunimitsu kun ok?" my mom warned me as I gently grabbed a couple of mochi.

After I grabbed a plateful, I headed upstairs. When I opened the door, Tezuka was staring at my framed pictures on the desk.

"Tezuka kun I brought snacks. I guess you're taking a break already??"

I placed the plate down on an empty space on the desk and looked down on to his composition book.

"Yikes! They're already done?" I stared at him with incredulous look. That composition would have at least taken me one whole day. I started to read his composition, hoping that I could criticize it since it was done in such a short time. However, this was TEZUKA's composition not KIKUMARU's. It was one of the well done compositions that I have ever read.

"Wow such beautiful composition. You're a natural born genius!!" I exclaimed.

Tezuka grinned and picked up a mochi.

"Ahhh wait! (holds his hand from putting the mochi near his mouth) Savor the craftsmanship shown on the mochi first."

" …Probability that ingredients contain sugar 80, food coloring 5 and red bean 15. (laughs)"

"(laughs hysterically) wow you sound exactly like Inui kun!"

Watching him laugh and smile made me feel warm inside. It's as though I can feel the ice within him melt.

"Aizawa san is there something on my face" he gave me a puzzled look since I was smiling at him.

"Nope. I just hope we become close friends." I sincerely said while I extended my hand. "Yes I hope so too. (Takes my hand and shakes it.)

"Oh yeah Aizawa san are you going to do any more work?"

"No I think I'm done for today. Are you done?"

"Yes I'm done, (I raised my eyebrow) yes I'm sure I'm done. Did you want to play tennis for awhile?"

"Sure!! Let's play on my court." I replied happily like a dog waiting to get a bone.

So he went back to his house to get his racket and change while I did the same. I walked out on to the court and Tezuka came a minute later.

"Did you want to rally or did you want to play a match?" I questioned as I bounced the ball up and down.

"Let's rally first and play half a set."

"Ok which? (Spins the racket)"

"Smooth" Tezuka said while he adjusted his strings.

_hmm I want to see how he serves first_ "I take this side you serve first."

Tezuka's hits were powerful even in just a rally. His hits forced me to run side to side and due to the slice spin he added to his strokes, the ball seems to be running away from me as I was about to hit it.

_Wow even if she's a girl she's very consistent and her hits aren't simply flat like the other girls I see at our school. Yudan sezu ni ikou. _Tezuka thought to himself.

"Aizawa san did you want to start yet?"

"Sure!" _Ahh this is not going to be easy._ (Notices Tezuka playing with his right hand) _Ehh wasn't he writing with his left hand earlier?_

"0-0 Love all first service." The baritone voice rang throughout my court. Just when I thought he raised his arm, he hit a pinpoint accurate corner serve. I was no touch aced

"15-love first serve." Another corner serve. This time I touched it but my racket was blown away.

"Are you okay Aizawa san?"

I nodded and grinned. "Yup. Great serves!" _I really like challenges. I'll get this serve_

"30 love." Another corner but I managed to get it this time, giving the ball a counter spin but it went back straight to him.

He motioned for a drop shot so I ran up to the net just as I saw him his racket lowered more than his usual backhand. I hit a forehand toward his deuce side but mysteriously, the ball went back straight to his face. Before I knew it, he hit a lob and I was too late to go back.

"Deuce."

This time when the serve came, I sliced it to give it an under spin but Tezuka saw this and ran up and hit it into the open court.

"Game. Change court."

We both walked toward the bench on the side to get a drink of water.

"Tezuka kun you're great! Was it just me or the ball kept going back to you?"

"Oh that was Tezuka zone. I added a slice spin so that eventually all the balls start coming back to me."

"Wow…(grins devilishly) I hope I can score at least one point from you…"

_Her words are humble but her expression betrays her…she's definitely got some tricks up her sleeve. Yudan sezu ni ikou! _Tezuka may seem emotionless but he is understanding.

_Time to check his reflexes_ I thought as I hit a bullet speed flat serve that is about 196 mph.

_Her serve is better than most guys…_Tezuka's mind flashed as he watched the ball scurry past his foot.

"15-love. _Hmm I wonder if he likes a bit of under spin _(Hits a fast slice spin)"

"_This is also a good serve but it is easy to anticipate the direction of a slice serve_ _since it_ _only heads for the right hand corner _(Hits it back cross court)"

"_I won't let it end it here_. (Runs to the corner and motions for a drop shot in the middle of the court) _His cross court shot is hea_vy!"

I watched as Tezuka ran up to the net in amazing speed and scooped up the drop shot.

But I was already waiting for that shot and smashed into the open court.

"30-love. _Now for a gift from me_ (Hits a twist serve)"

"_Hmm her stance was different this time_." Tezuka thought alarmingly. The ball spun once continuously when it hit the ground.

Just as Tezuka was wondering why the ball was not bouncing up, the ball sharply rose up 90 degrees, barely missing his face.

"_hmm his reflexes are awesome_…_other people usually got hit in their faces_. 40 love."

I hits another twist serve and earned another no touch ace.

So the game turned out to be a tie 3-3. Tezuka couldn't return my twist serve and I couldn't break his Tezuka Zone. Sun burned and sweaty, we rested on the bench.

"Tezuka kun you didn't have to give me a handicap…"

"Hmm?" He questioned, a bit alarmed that she noticed it.

"Aren't you left handed? You were writing with your left earlier."

"Uh…_she found out already?_"

"Thanks for being polite but I can learn more if I lose 0-3 rather than tie 3-3."

"_Oh no that smile looks a bit disappointed_. I'm sorry but my arm seemed a bit tired from working on homework."

"I'm sorry we shouldn't have played today then."

"Kunimitsu! Mina chan! Are you two done yet?" Tezuka's mom called out as she popped her head out the window.

Mina: Oh yes oba chan we're coming!

So without another word we headed back to our own homes.


	5. Chapter 5: What's wrong with me?

Disclaimer: I'm not good enough to own Pot…

Chapter 5: What's wrong with me?

That night…

Kunimitsu Tezuka…there sure is a lot to learn about him, I thought as I on my bed. He wasn't just a simple geek that studies all day on his desk. I was surprised he was a procrastinator but more importantly I never saw anyone this talented in tennis. He matches my father's level and father's ranking during his teenage years was not low: Nationally ranked 20 out of 7000. Then the faces of Fuji, Kikumaru, Oishi and other freshmen tennis players came to my head. Are they as good as Tezuka is? Or is Tezuka just an exception? Oh well no matter. I should get up to do some studying and then write some fanfiction.

Mean while…

What an extraordinary girl…based on what I've seen in the Seigaku tennis club, girls can barely volley and hit ground strokes, ignoring the fact that some have trouble with their backhands. But Twist serves? I haven't seen any guy in Seigaku hit that serve. I really need to improve so I'll win against her for sure next time. (Visions of Mina dancing, smiling and laughing come to his mind) She sure is complicated to understand…I can't get a good grip of her abilities or her feelings. She's always smiling just like Fuji but her smile seems to be warm and sincere unlike Fuji's…

Flashback 

"Hey Tezuka what do you see in your ideal girl?" I nui asked with his notebook open, his glasses gleaming at Tezuka.

"Why?" feeling insecure, Tezuka backed away.

"I'm doing a survey for a class" (quote from automatic petals)

"Hmm she has to be pretty, caring, smart and she has to like tennis."

End of flashback 

She is pretty…very pretty. Her chocolate silky hair flowing down her back, hazel colored eyes that seems to take you into her world as she gazes at you, creamy ivory skin that makes you want to hold her hand to see how smooth it is, her smile can make anyone's heart thump. Yes I noticed that even if I maybe labeled as unemotional…and she is caring: she asked to dance with me, noticing that I was left out and countless times she would help people with homework problems if they didn't understand it. Besides that, smart is the synonym for her name. She can nail all problems that teachers throw at her Flashback images of Mina taking notes continuously with a serious expression and absorbing every word from the lectures. And best of all, she likes tennis or more like she's pro at it…is that a sign that I'm falling for her? (Shakes his head) puppy loves mean nothing. It'll interfere with my present life but I think I pissed her off though. Who knew girls notices trivial things like that? Person other than Aizawa san that noticed I was not playing with my dominant hand was Fuji…I'll talk her tomorrow. I'll pack for school now. (Notices that some of his homework is missing.) Oh I left it at Aizawa san's house. It's barely 8 and her light is on.

"Konbanwa (Good Evening)" Tezuka bowed as Mrs. Aizawa opened the door.

"Kunimitsu Kun what happened?"

"I'm sorry to trouble you at this time but is it possible for me to pick up my belongings that I left in Aizawa san's room?"

"Sure! I'm sorry Mina should have delivered it to you."

With a polite answer, Tezuka headed upstairs to Mina's room. Recalling that Mina said not to knock, he quietly opened the door not to startle her. Though he expected her to be on the desk studying for some test in 100 years, he found her on the bed asleep. He wanted to just gather his papers and leave but when he faced her, he seemed rooted on the ground.

The Mina he was observing now looked like a portrait. Her hair was neatly placed as though she fell asleep right when she hit the bed, her eyes closed made her look as innocent as an angel, her hands laced together as feminine as one can be. However, he noticed her face had more pink color as though she wore blush. _Is she sick? _Quickly he placed a hand on her forehead and the other hand on his forehead. _Her temperature is pretty high. _He ran down the stairs, almost tripping on the third step and called for Mrs. Aizawa.

With the sound of someone running down, I opened my eyes without blinking. I had an unusual dream. A doctor was chasing me and I wanted to stop but I couldn't. I kept running and running.

"Mina! Are you okay? Let me measure your temperature." My mom paced around my room grabbing a thermometer, towel and icepack.

I looked up at mom while the middle aged woman inserted a thermometer under my arm.

"Mom I'm fine I just had a dream and you know after dreams, you get a headache and you're more tired than before?" even if I said so, I understood that I was sick. My throat ached when I talked and my head seemed like it was replaced with a stone.

"39.8 degrees Celsius (normal temperature is 36.0 degrees) No school for you tomorrow Mina" my mom muttered as she took out the thermometer. "Sweetie you're lucky Kunimitsu Kun noticed you were sick or I wouldn't have known."

"Hmm?" I gave her a puzzled look until at the corner of my room; I caught sight of Tezuka looking at me concerned.

"Are you okay Aizawa san?" Tezuka questioned as my mother walked out after she persuaded me to go see the doctor tomorrow.

I nodded and forced a smile. Smiling wasn't that easy when your head throbbed with pain.

"You need to rest so I'll walk alone to school tomorrow." As he said so, his expression was soft and it gave me the strength to smile once again.

"Thanks Tezuka kun" I whispered while he gave me a pat on the head. "You act like a brother to me."

With a rare smile on his face, Tezuka exited my room and I drifted off into a deep sleep.

_Is she right? Are my feelings for her similar to affection for a sister? I'm sure she's right_ Tezuka nodded convincingly_. I'm not experienced in feeling love affection for a girl so what makes me think that I like her?_

Next Morning…

"Mina let's go see the doctor." My mom coaxed to get out of the bed.

"Mom you took a day off? I'm just sick like usual. (yes I get sick very often)." I forced out my voice from my vocal chords.

"Yes because Mina you get sick so often I want the doctor to tell me exactly what is wrong. So get up dear."

"Mmm but mom it's so cold and I feel dizzy." But after I said that I regretted it. My mom was hysterical. She put her hand to my forehead and put a thermometer under my arm.

"Mooooom…those symptoms are ordinary for having a fever…"

"AH! 42.1 no wonder you're feeling cold. I'll call the doctor to come here instead."

_Great I made her panic even more. Everyone reading this, please understand I DO NOT trouble people usually. So please don't think I'm troublesome (_

After ten minutes or so Dr. Kurosawa arrived. He was well known to us since I get sick often, at least four times a year. He chatted with my mom a bit outside my room and unfortunately, I wasn't able to hear their conversation. When he came back in, he took out a syringe and three empty tubes.

"Mina Chan, I need some of your blood to diagnose your illness."

I nodded and I watched as the doctor inserted the syringe on my forearm. I anticipated that it would hurt but in reality, the syringe wasn't causing the pain, the amount of the blood he extracted did. He took three full tubes and with sudden loss of that blood, my head was beginning to feel rotated once again.

"You should stay home at least two days after your fever is completely gone so you can prevent it from coming back."

"Arigato gozaimashita sensei (You can also call a doctor sensei.)." my mother and I both chimed and I watched as my mom walked the doctor out. He said the results will come out in a week. _Hopefully I'm recovered by then. I'll prove nothing is wrong with me!_

With that determination, I made huge efforts to eat, follow the medicine routine and rest instead of working like I used to. (That's also because mom was home this time but yeah…)

In the afternoon, Tezuka came to drop off today's homework.

"Are you feeling better Aizawa san? Did you take your medicine?"

"Yes daddy" I answered obediently.

"Hmm first I'm your brother then I'm your dad, what else am I?" he answered amusingly.

"Also you're my mother since you asked me if I took my medicine." I managed a weak smile.

I asked him to leave quickly though because I didn't want to spread anything. Actually, I wanted him to stay and I felt empty when he left. _What is this feeling? I just have a fever why am I so needy this time? It's not like I have a terrible disease right?_ After attempting to convince myself, my conscience proved skeptical. So I just fell back to sleep.

42.1 degrees Celsius fever was sure stubborn. After all the efforts I put it, I was finally better on Saturday, in other words, I was sick for a whole week. Good thing I did some homework before I got sick so I can just study lecture notes when I get better.

It was Monday morning and both my parents forbid me to go to school. I'm falling behind…but oh well now I can do something. I should watch some movies. So I popped in a DVD of "Prince of Tennis." Before I knew it, it was 3o'clock and my mom came back from work. These days, she comes home early (Mrs. Worrywart) since usually she comes home around 8.

Just as I opened the door, the phone rang. I answered it speedily to stop it from deafening my ears.

"Oh is this Mina Chan?" A man with friendly deep voice called.

"Yes and this must be Dr. Kurosawa?"

"Yes very good (chuckles) Mina chan are any of your parents home right now?"

"Yes" _oh it must be the blood test result. _My brain put it together as I twisted the phone chords.

"Ok I'll be right over." Then he hanged up. _Uh-oh this doesn't sound good. If I had no problem he could just congratulate me over the phone. So why is he coming over?_

And my dark prediction was right.

"Leukemia?" I repeated along with my mother.

"But from what I know of it, isn't that when I have excessive leukocytes and they start clogging up together so my immune system is not able to respond as well when there's an intruding pathogen?" I said in one breath. _He can't be serious, he just can't be…_

"Yes you're quite right Mina Chan but there's more. Leukemia is one of the most fatal diseases that exist. Gradually, your lymph nodes will enlarge accompanied by anemia. That's when your limbs will be paralyzed." My mom paled and I was petrified.

"One way out of this disease is for you to receive a bone marrow transplant. But the most unfortunate thing is….that…you only have about two years to live…"


	6. Forget about the woes of yesterday

Disclaimer: I'm not good enough to own pot…

Chapter 6: Forget about the woes of yesterday

"But the most unfortunate thing is….that…you only have about two years to live…"

My mom sank on to the sofa and I was trying to absorb all the information into my head.

"Please remain calm because we can try our best to search for a bone marrow donor and…"

Whatever the doctor said afterwards I didn't hear. I don't know how I had the energy but I felt my legs carry me out to the door and further outside. Tears were on the verge of coming out and I had to run away fast. This is a dream, nothing else.

I collided with someone and through the blurred vision due to my tears, I detected that it was Tezuka.

"Aizawa san what happened?" He questioned calmly like usual.

"Sorry Tezuka Kun" I apologized for bumping into him with a shaky voice and I ran off. Tears were rolling down now and I didn't want anyone to see me in this condition. I didn't know where to go but I ran. Anywhere but here, out of everyone's sight.

"Mina! Mina!" my mom came out after the nerve in her legs came back. But it was too late. She came face to face with a glasses face.

"Oh Tezuka Kun okaeri (Means welcome back)."

"Oba san did something happen? Aizawa san rushed out on the verge of tears."

"It's nothing. (Smiles)."

_This family sure knows how to smile at any time…_Tezuka secretly thought. "Would you like me to chase after her?"

"No it's fine Kunimitsu kun she'll come back soon. She always runs off when she's upset because she's afraid of being seen while she's crying. She never wanted the image of her to be seen as weak. Besides, she knows that having a personal space for awhile would help her calm down."

At 8o'clock…

Tezuka was sitting in his room because he just couldn't concentrate. History book was left open unattended even though it was Tezuka's favorite subject. His eyes fell on Mina's test. _I was supposed to give it back to her today. _He slowly ran his finger over the red inked 100. _I should call now to see if she's back._

"Konbanwa. (good evening) oba san." he greeted as he stared hard at the phone and his right fingers that was crossed. _Please let her be home._

"Oh Kunimitsu kun…Mina is not home yet. Is there anything I can…?" she gazed questioningly at the phone when she heard the dial tone after she said the words NOT HOME.

Tezuka put on his blue jacket and after telling his mother he'll be right back, he rushed out the door.

_Aizawa san where are you?_ He questioned, hoping that Mina and him were telepathically connected. He ran around the streets, the nearby park, around Bouquet. But no luck.

"_It's really peaceful to watch them since they seem so carefree!"_ Tezuka felt as though she was talking to him.

_Her voice! But she's nowhere to be around. She said this last time but what was she looking at?_

After pacing around a while, he caught a glimpse of a Sardine can.

_I got it! Koi! She might be at school. _He flew to school at the speed that he will use to avoid Inui's vegetable juice in the future but then his run was interfered by the school gate. _This thing is tall. She wouldn't try to jump this thing right?_ He attempted to walk away but then…_this is the only clue I have. I should check first._ With all his might, he climbed up the fence and jumped off onto the other side. _Good thing no one is looking. This is not something that Tezuka Kunimitsu should ever do. If I had a sister that acts the same way she does, I'll tie her up before she runs out! _He fumed as he rushed toward the pond. Then he stopped when he saw the chocolate brown hair. It was her. Mina was perched on the rock with the gentle breeze blowing back her hair. He felt like rushing to hug her but he calmed down and remained composed.

I heard the leaves on the ground rustle. It was feint but I knew this was not the work of the breeze. It sounded like someone stepped on the leaves. Hurriedly I spun around to decide the intruder and caught a glimpse of a boy my age with glasses and chestnut brown hair.

"Tezuka kun?" my voice sounded more husky than usual.

"Aizawa san you should go home." He came to her side with a stern look. This was the attitude he used on the tennis court as the captain of freshmen.

My blood pressure rose instantaneously. _He doesn't understand what I have to go through and he's commanding me? Who told him to come here anyway!_ My brain produced these messages. However, I stayed silent and the apathetic tone came again.

"I'll say it one more time Aizawa san let's go home." He regretted that his words came out harsher than he had planned but he doesn't have any experience in being soft.

I was fuming with his words but I realized he came through the trouble of looking for me so in response,

"Tezuka Kun thanks for coming but before we go, can you accompany me for few more minutes?"

After a few moments of silence, he settled on the rock next to me.

"Would you like to tell me what happened today?" He began more gently than the words he said awhile ago.

"Nothing's wrong," I tried to laugh it off.

"I don't believe crying will make you look weak. So if you want to cry, proceed as you please." Tezuka alleged while recalling what Mrs. Aizawa said about Mina.

I shook my head sadly, "Crying can tear a person apart. It reminds you of the very thing you are trying to suppress and forget."

"Then what do you do to forget your woes?" he questioned and thought _That's one sad smile…_

"I sing…"

"Then sing…"

"No it's ok."

"Then we're going back"

"Ok I'll sing…" Tezuka smiled in the dark as I began to sing with my soft soprano voice.

_Have you wondered how it feels when it's all over?  
Wondered how it feels when you just have to start a new.   
Never knowing where you're going  
when you face a brand new day.   
It used to be that way.   
Now I just close my eyes and say. _

_I just want to breathe again.   
Learn to face the joy and pain.   
Discover how to laugh a little,  
cry a little, Live a little more.   
I just wanna face today  
Forget about the woes of yesterday  
maybe if I hope a little  
Try a little more.   
I'll breathe again. _

I stopped. This song reminded me too much of this afternoon and even though I thought I was out of tears; my eyes were welling up again. Tezuka extended a hand.

"Let's go." He said, though this time, he had a soft expression. _That song was really soothing._ _Forget about the woes of yesterday? She seemed to know the exact lyrics to express her mood. _He secretly thought.

I took his hand and we walked out of the school.

"Aizawa san did you really jump over this fence?" he mused.

"Yes" _How else do you get in here? Stupid Tezuka._

After we jumped over the fence, he took hold of my hand again. It felt really secure with his hold. It prevented me from being wobbly on the street and besides my hands were frozen from being outside for couple of hours.

"Aizawa san, why don't you stay over to my house tonight?"

"Ehh no it's ok I don't want to trouble you. I'm already troubling you enough."

"Don't worry about it." Even if I said no, it was no use; Tezuka practically pushed me inside his house.

"You can stay here," he said with one hand pushing my shoulders and the other opening the door to the room next to his, "I'll be right back."

I'm pretty sure that was to tell his parents that I'll be staying here tonight. I felt rude for not greeting the Tezukas before I came into this room. I'm Aizawa Mina and my reputation should be always left as loveable and sweet. However, I hope they understand I don't feel like talking to anyone right now.

While I sat on the bed absorbing everything that happened today, I realized it wasn't so bad…I have two more years, it's not like I only have 10days. In the mean time, doctors will be searching for bone marrow donor so no worry. If there's no bone marrow donor, I'll just see how far I can live. I have to be thankful of what I experienced until now and get ready for an adventure in the afterlife.

While I was lost in my world, Tezuka came in with a cup of hot green tea in his arm.

"I heard that hot tea can calm a person." He handed me the tea and walked toward the veranda.

I didn't bother turning the light on so the night view was beautiful. Many stars filled the sky as though it was July 7th(If you don't know what it means, tell me in the review. It's a Japanese myth.)

Then a white light rushed across a sky. "A shooting star!" I gasped softly. When I turned to Tezuka, he was closing his eyes, making a wish.

"Aizawa san did you make a wish?" he said after a moment of silence.

"No, I don't really have anything to wish for." _I'm not going to wish that I'll live longer, I'll leave it for God to decide..._

"What did you wish for Tezuka kun? To not be a procrastinator?" I teased. I was beginning to regain some energy from the green tea.

"No, but it's a secret."

We stared at the sky for longer silently. I liked how with Tezuka, I can be silent as long as I want. Others pressure me into keep talking because I'm afraid they'll be bored if I don't keep taking.

"Tezuka Kun, go finish your homework." I urged, not wanting to trouble him further.

"Yes I should, but are you okay?" I nodded, happy that he cared and watched as he approached the door.

"Tezuka Kun…" I felt like hugging him but knowing his conserved nature, I remained still.

"Hmm?"

"Thank You…" without an answer, Tezuka closed the door behind him.

He was glad Mina seemed to be normal. She was even able to tease him a bit. _She's so strong. Usually she has no other expression than that warm smile (just like Fuji but more sincerely) but this time she was on the verge of tears. How can she act so normal just in a couple of hours?_

After about an hour, Tezuka finished his homework and packed for school. _I should go check up on her_. So without any second thought, he headed to the room next door. He entered the room and he was glad Mina was already fast asleep. He would not know what to say anymore. He inched toward her face, noticing some tear stains on her cheeks.

"_You act like a brother to me." _Her words rang through his head. He gently brushed away her bangs out of her face. _I'll do my best to protect and cheer you up. _He vowed as he gazed at the sleeping beauty.


	7. Chapter 7: Charity with Melody

Disclaimer: Forget about the woes of yesterday

Chapter 7: Charity with Melody?

Next Morning…

"Morning, Tezuka-kun!" I called out as I walked out the guest room.

"Good morning, Aizawa-san." _she's acting normal._ Tezuka thought while he adjusted his glasses and headed towards the bathroom to wash his face.

When Tezuka exited the bathroom, he noticed Mina was nowhere in his house.

"Mother, where did Aizawa-san go?"

"Oh she went back to her house to get ready for school, of course. Kunimitsu, did Mina Chan tell you anything? Something fatal must have happened. She was cautiously checking if her parents were still at home before left."

"She seemed to avoid telling me anything so I decided to stay out of it."

"Hmm that's my typical son, icy on the outside and squishy within!" she cried as she ran up to choke her son.

When Tezuka opened his gate, Mina was already waiting for him outside.

"Sorry, I left without saying anything." I bowed apologetically.

"No, it's fine." Tezuka replied like ordinarily, unemotional and careless.

He was curious about what had happened in the previous day but of course, he promised himself he wouldn't bring it up unless she started to talk about it.

"It's almost summer vacation but we have midterms before that…" I said casually. _Silence is not comfortable at this time. He might question me about the previous day._

"Yes but I'm sure you won't have any problem with it Aizawa-san. Yudan Sezu ni ikeba daijobu. (You'll be fine if you don't get careless.)"

"(Nods) What do you usually do during summer?"

"Practice tennis and read as much history as I can. And you?"

"I think I'll volunteer at the hospital, practice tennis and study ahead."

The rest of the conversation was quick, choppy and trivial. What more can you expect from the master robot? Seems like he was recycling my question with the words "And you?" all the time. But it's okay…

When I got into the classroom, I almost got ran over by the red head. (again…)

"Mina-Chan daijobu? Genki? (Are you well?)"

"Kikumaru-Kun. Yes I'm fine thank you."

I smiled as I became contented watching almost the whole class asking me about my condition.

However, I caught few words such as:

"Oh, she's back already?"

"Yeah, what a disappointment. I was able to watch my Tezuka-kun more that way"

"She's always around after school and before school!"

"It's not only Tezuka-sama! My Fuji-sama is being stolen away also!"

"No Oishi-sama!"

"No! Kikumaru-sama!"

"No Ishida-sama!" (Who?)

My 3 best friends in seigaku: Ito Hitomi, Yamamoto Kaga, and Andoh Miyuki quickly turned around to glare at them, along with Tezuka, Kikumaru, Oishi and Kawamura.

"Ahah don't worry about it guys. (Smiles) I'm really glad I get to see you guys again." I laughed it off as I urged Kaga to turn around. _It's not like I want to date any of the guys they mentioned…_

"So Mina how come you were sick for so long?" Miyuki questioned, not knowing she hit the bomb.

"Nya nya Tezuka wouldn't tell us your condition and we wanted to come over but Tezuka said (putting on Tezuka's stoic expression and adjusting his glasses) 'Let her rest'

Nya we were so worried!"

"Sorry for troubling you guys! I'm super genki now!!! Time to do a year worth of homework!!(Flexes my muscles…not like I have any but)" _I wish time can stop at this moment. I feel so carefree around everyone._

_For a moment, I saw a dark shadow on her expression _Tezuka thought while he watched Mina flex her muscles and laugh.

"Oh Aizawa-san we have a student council meeting during lunch today!" Oishi exclaimed with his bang swaying side to side.

"Okay let's go together after Science. What are we discussing in the meeting?"

"The president said something about community service."

At the class council meeting…

"Meeting called to order at 12:09!" the president barked. "I feel that as inhabitants of a small country, we need to help and support each other to improve our environment. So I want suggestions from you guys about what type of community services we should do."

_Community service…I volunteer at the hospital but our whole school will be a trouble for the hospital if we all volunteer._ I was searching through my brain so hard that I didn't notice Oishi-Kun poking me.

"The president is asking you!" he whispered when I looked up at the friendly president Sohma Yuki. (He's from Fruits basket!)

"Aizawa san you always have good ideas. Give me an example."

"(Pause) I think we can go to senior citizens' homes because they are always inactive. We will have to acknowledge their conditions first then students can sing, draw, and play games with them."

"Good! Any other suggestions? I think we should keep ourselves busy with community service throughout the year."

"We can collect cans and clothes to donate to the homeless and the poor!" a red headed girl with freckles blurted out.

While people stormed the president with suggestions and the secretary scribbled furiously, MY condition came up. What if there are other people like me with an illness? At the end of the meeting, this is what we had:

Ask people to donate blood or bone marrow.

Go to orphanages and entertain the kids.

Recycle papers, cans and bottles within our school.

Promote saving electricity, petroleum and natural resources.

Collect cans/clothes.

"Okay I think I know what we should do now. We'll divide up the services by grades." The president announced when he was finally able to breathe. He scribbled on the chalk board

Third years must: ask people above age 17 to donate blood or bone marrow, promote the saving of natural resources.

Second years must: Collect can foods/clothes and attend senior homes.

First Years must: Attend orphanages and distribute cans /clothes to any area that needs them.

"Okay if no one has question, copy it down and present it to class. Meeting adjourned at 12:48!" Right after he said that, the bell rang.

5th Period was History but we had to shorten the period due to Oishi's and my announcement (To Tezuka's disappointment).

"Can I have your attention please?" I called out after Oishi got the teacher's approval to interrupt.

After Oishi and I took turns in explaining the process and our tasks, I added.

"By end of this week, I hope you guys can give us suggestions on where we should donate the cans/clothes and which orphanage we should volunteer at." _I absolutely love the feeling when people give me their undivided attention. Except I don't like the way those girls that were talking about me earlier keep pointing at me and laughing…_

Afterschool…

"Aizawa san, based on how you rally with us, I think you exceed our levels. I talked this over with Ryuzaki sensei and she said for you to practice with the boys except for Fridays. Fridays you practice with us so I can see how you're doing." Captain Minamoto declared joyously.

"Eh??" I was in the middle of content and melancholy. Tennis practice is not very challenging so I want to see how the boys' practice is but I like being around Captain Minamoto and friends I met like Koishikawa Miki (From Marmalade Boy!).

"Yes it is unusual but I think your skill is rare, like once in 100 years. Freshmen are usually not allowed to play but you're an exception so take this chance gratefully!" She reminded me of a lion letting go her cub while shaking her golden and wild mane.

"Ok thank you so much buchou!!" _Should I tell her she looks like a lion? Nah…_

"I'm so jealous of you! If I had smile like yours I won't have to worry about being asked to prom!"

"But buchou you're so pretty with your golden locks and you're a person everyone can admire." I said this sincerely.

"You should head over to the boy's practice before I keep you here because you're so sweet!" she cooed after giving me a hug that involved rubbing her cheeks against mine.

After giving a last smile towards the captain, I headed over to the boy's courts and approached Yamato buchou, the boy's captain. He seemed friendly, though I couldn't observe his eyes due to the sunglasses he wore.

"Umm Yamato buchou…" I greeted hesitantly. I didn't know where to start.

"I understand your situation. I'm honored to have you practice with us. I think you should join our freshman boys over there."

"Thank you for having me here." I bowed and strolled over to the group of boys wearing mint green ring collared t-shirts with matching shorts.

I spotted Kikumaru first since he was jumping around.

"Mina Chan what are you doing here?" he questioned as he landed from a successful somersault.

"The captain sent me to practice with the boys because she said I won't be able to practice properly if I stay with the girls." _Did that sound humble enough? I really don't like putting myself above others… _

"In other words you exceed the average girl's level." Two semicircle eyes which belonged to Fuji greeted me.

"Hey freshmen go pick up the balls and put up the nets!" a second year with blue outfit called out.

"Yes sir!!!" all the freshmen answered in unison.

_ehh? Are we slaves or something?_

Afterwards…

"Everyone 20 laps around the court now as our warm up." Yamato buchou asserted while receiving whining from the team.

"Oh but before that let me introduce you to a new member, Aizawa Mina Chan. She's been sent here to practice with us by Ryuzaki sensei. So let's all try to make her feel welcome."

I smiled and bowed, ignoring the guys' comments on how unusual it is to find a girl in boys' practice. I didn't care at all but I did care about how boring boys's practice was!

Nonetheless, everyone started running and little by little, people began stopping when they reached 10 laps. Freshmen started stopping first since they were not experienced in long distant runs like older members.

_hmm the only people running are like the regulars and…only me?? _I thought while turning around.

_Oh correction, there's one more freshmen. I see green._ When I focused into the image more, I spotted chestnut colored hair, pale white skin…and glasses?!

_Tezuka kun?!_ I was impressed. He kept up with the Regulars but I didn't mention anything. _It's not like I'll get any response back any way right?_

After running, the freshmen were assigned to practice swinging 100 times, rally for about 30 minutes then clean up. _Is this really practice?_ This was a lot worse than girls practice. In practice, I was able to practice variety of shots with the help of Captain Minamoto and other regulars. We had days where we help freshmen girls that didn't know how to play tennis yet. Boys' practice was an outrage!!! Seems like I was not careful in concealing my emotion and I crushed my water bottle harder than usual. Then who else better than Fuji to notice such trivial things? Fuji seems to have noticed my thought and he proposed to rally with me.

"Fuji kun are you sure? I think Inui kun wanted to rally with you though."

"Iikara Iikara (It's okay). I think Inui will watch me play even if I don't rally with him. He'll be busy with that notebook." The snow white Fuji pointed to the tall boy with glasses. Sure enough Inui was holding on to a thick blue notebook labeled "Fuji". When I glanced at Inui's feet I noticed more notebooks labeled "kikumaru", "Kawamura", "Oishi" and the thickest of all labeled "Tezuka".

"What a hard worker" I smiled in admirance.

While Inui scribbled furiously outside the court and muttered things like "Ii Data", Fuji and I rallied.

Our rally was exactly a rally. In other words, ball bounced back and forth, no special moves but I was surprised how Fuji was able to get all the balls even if it was side to side.

We were taking a short break on the court when a ball lobbed over from two courts away.

"Sorry! I hit it too far!" a freshman boy called from two courts away.

I walked toward it hoping to hit the ball back with my racket but Fuji was faster.

He extended his arms and hit the ball back to the rightful court.

"Wow Fuji that was a lucky shot!!" many boys exclaimed after they watched it in awe.

I also praised him but secretly I felt that it wasn't a lucky shot. Fuji's sky blue eyes seemed to have opened up at that moment and aimed it right into the court. I looked up and saw Tezuka staring at Fuji and I knew Tezuka had the same thought as me.

_Who is Fuji Syusuke?_

_Hmm Hope you liked it! Review please! Oh do you guys prefer longer chapters or short? Tell me in the review!!!_


	8. Chapter 8: Do i make a good wife?

Disclaimer: I'm not good enough to own prince of tennis

Chapter 8: Do I make a good wife?

Today I changed faster than all other girls since I was dismissed earlier. I really miss girls practice.

I caught sight of Minamoto buchou and ran up to her.

"Buchou I miss you so much!" I cried.

"How was practice?" she questioned hoping for a response such as "It's so difficult" but the response I gave her was the opposite.

"It's boring!" I exclaimed automatically.

I ended up explaining the whole practice to her and to my disappointment; she seemed impressed with guys' practice.

"Aizawa chan, you do know that girls don't have the potential to run 20 laps or any two digit number. I sent you to boys' practice knowing that your potential was beyond ordinary girls. Besides, Yamato buchou is a mysterious but superb buchou. You'll see the reason why Ryuzaki sensei and I wanted to send you to him soon."

I felt neglected and I wanted to go back to girls practice but like buchou said, that seems too easy. After I changed, I walked to the boy's locker room to wait for Tezuka.

These days it seems pretty natural for us to wait for each other. Thank goodness he came out fast because I don't like getting mobbed by Tezuka's fans while I'm waiting for him.

When we started walking, it was me who brought up what happened last night.

"Tezuka Kun thank you so much for yesterday. I owe you a lot."

"Don't worry about it. Aizawa san you don't owe me anything." I was truly greatful for those words. Lot of people would say that but from Tezuka seems like it truly came from the heart.

"Oh Tezuka Kun do you want to come today to work on homework?"

"Sure…"

"Then can you come with me to go grocery shopping? It's Monday so I have to restock the fridge."

After he nodded, we were silent because I was busy thinking about what to cook. Something that Tezuka will enjoy but you know stoic people like him are picky but they never comment. How useless…but it was worth a try,

"Tezuka Kun what do you want to eat tonight?"

"It's fine thank you I'll go home to eat."

"So are you saying my cooking is not good enough?" _Hehe stoic people are hard to understand but I can see his soft hearted (Grins)_

"No it's just I don't want to trouble you."

"Is that a way to avoid my cooking?"

"No…you just recovered from a fever you should rest more."

"I know my health the best and you're raising my blood pressure." I smiled as I walked a step behind him. This was my win.

"So you're staying over for dinner. What do you like to eat?" I repeated. It seems like he gave up on arguing with me.

"Anything is fine…" _See? I knew this was going to be his answer._

Sighing at the same time, I decided to cook Italian food. I threw into the basket: Spaghetti, clams, mushroom, onion, grounded meat, spaghetti sauce, basil.

_I have everything I need at home for appetizer and desert. _

The line was short since no one got off work yet and we arrived home in a flash because I power walked.

"No one is home at this time?" Tezuka asked curiously while he watched me take out my keys.

"Nope. Mom will be home around 8 and dad will be home around 10. Why? Are you going to take advantage of me?" _Teasing him is also fun since he's always serious._

"No" His icy mask never failed to stay on but his skin betrayed him since he blushed in embarrassment.

"Just kidding I trust you."

"So you've always been alone until 8?"

"Yes. It's not that dangerous." _He sounds like my grandpa_.

"Then I'll accompany you from now on until you mom comes home."

"Heh are you sure? But…are you sure?" I babbled confusingly.

"Yes" he stated firmly. _So she's always been alone. That's why she's strong enough to cope with her problems by herself…_

I was lost and astonished. I was used to being by myself, I like to give myself enough personal space but I was also happy at the same time because being home by yourself is not fun everyday.

"So let's work on our homework until 6:30 then you take a break while I'll make dinner." I said while we both dumped our backpacks on the couch.

We both busily took out books from our backpacks and pretty son we were scribbling nonstop.

After awhile…

"Are you done Aizawa san?" Tezuka mused at 6.

"Almost….ok I'm done." We checked answers with each other and were finally done.

"Tezuka Kun you can listen to music or watch TV or something. I'll take about 30 minutes to cook dinner."

"Do you need help or anything?"

"No, you'll be in my way." I stuck out my tongue innocently as Tezuka glared for just a moment.

"I'm just kidding. You're a guest so go rest!"

_Aizawa san seems pretty much recovered from yesterday. But somehow in school, I see moments when she's daydreaming with a sad face while she's alone. I'm a stoic but a softy_, _how shameful_…he thought as he reluctantly walked over to Mina's room.

Since he was done with homework for the day, he started to pack his belongings into his backpack.

Framed pictures caught his eyes as he picked up his pencil.

A Picture of 4 girls that posed in a diamond shape caught his eyes. On the right side was Mina, smiling contently. _They must have been best friends. They are all hugging each other. _The girl on the left had black hair, shoulder length with white skin, sprinkled with some acne. The girl in the back had a nice smile, and soft looking brown hair while the girl in the front had some blonde streaks smiled innocently, holding on to Mina's arms, that were around her shoulders.

_I don't know anything about her and I usually don't care. But seeing how she likes to hide everything makes me want to learn more about her. _

He took in the scenery of her room. Clean, pure and not overpowering, just like Mina is.

Her white sheets were outlined with white lace, a painting of a flower bed hung on the wall. Her room smelled like vanilla, sweet but not strong. All of her characteristics were imprisoned in this room: sweet, innocent and friendly.

"Tezuka Kun Dinner's ready!" I said as I popped my head in.

"Aizawa san, are these your friends from Yokohama?" He asked giving the picture a piercing look.

"Yes, they're my best friends. We used to call ourselves the Zodiax." I said as I picked up the picture and looked nostalgically at it.

"How did you feel when you transferred here?"

"I was devastated but then I felt parting with people doesn't mean eternally parting with them. I think it's a good opportunity to meet new people."

_She is stron, usually girls would be depressed about these type of things. If I was in the same situation as her, I wouldn't be depressed also since I don't really have close friends. Am I wrong for being so closed towards others?_

Tezuka thought as he followed Mina downstairs.

Just as he came out the door, he smelled the rich tomato sauce, mixed with freshly boiled pasta and when he reached the table, he saw a bowl of clam chowder next to each plate of spaghetti.

"Aizawa san you set dinner for your parents also?" he mentioned since there were four plates of spaghetti.

"Yes, because I'm usually working on homework when they come home. That's why I try to work ahead on the homework so I can spend time with my parents on weekends. So enough about me today. Please comment on my cooking." I gave Tezuka my puppy eyes. _I hope he likes my cooking._

"A+" he said shortly after he took in couple of bites.

"Really?" I was astonished. Tezuka wasn't the type to straightly say his emotions.

He nodded like a husband approving of a wife's cooking.

"Be sure you can fit dessert too" I commented while I twirled the spaghetti onto my fork.

For dessert, I made fruit parfait. It was strawberry jello on the bottom while, blueberry, raspberry and strawberry mixed with vanilla ice cream on top of the jello, topped with whip cream and cherry.

We didn't talk during the meal at all since I was busy eating instead of thinking about what to say, but this was fine since Tezuka seemed to have enjoyed my cooking. He even offered to wash dishes.

"No Tezuka Kun I'll do it. You're the guest."

"But I can't let you do all the work and I need to thank you for your cooking." And knowing the stern Tezuka, there was no stopping him.

"Do you really know how to wash dishes?" I questioned as I stood behind him. I didn't want to be in his way while he was busy.

"Yes" he answered stiffly. Knowing his usual character, I knew he will finish the work perfectly but I couldn't help teasing him. _Tezuka Kunimitsu washing dishes? Priceless!_

"Oh Tezuka Kun you missed a spot" I would comment occasionally or "You forgot to rinse that plate" even though I knew he already did.

Unexpectedly, Tezuka seemed to have had enough and placed a finger on the faucet to spray the water towards me. Instantly I clasped my arms around his waist and my head on his back to avoid the shower. What happened after that was below our reputations.

Both of us laughing hard, he continued spraying me with water while I sprayed some whip cream on my hands and slapped it on his cheeks. And our fight continued for about ten minutes.

"Hmm I should take a picture" I said when I was trying to calm down.

"Please don't. I don't think you would like your reputation to be degraded either." He said while washing his face.

After that we sat on the living room couch and watched a game show on TV.

"What year did the prime minister sign the peace treaty with America?" the host asked.

"1987" Tezuka replied automatically.

"What a robot" I commented, getting a glare from him.

"What is the derivative of 3x cubed plus 2x squared minus 7x plus 9?" was the next question.

"6x squared plus 4x minus 7." It was my turn to answer.

"Brainiac.." Tezuka hissed quietly.

"Don't be jealous." I gave back a grin.

Then the doorbell rang.

"Okaeri Mom." I greeted happily as I took her bag.

"Hi Mina." Mom replied tiredly. "Ph! Hi Tezuka Kun." She was astonishe to see Tezuka.

"Ojamashitemasu (Literally he's saying I'm bothering you but it's similar to hello I'm here.) And he added, "Since your mom is home now I should go back."

"Thank You Tezuka Kun for accompanying me." I said as I walked him towards the door.

"Yes, Thank you Kunimitsu Kun." Mom added.

After I watched Tezuka disappear into his house, I headed over to mom who was already starting to eat the plate of spaghetti.

"Tezuka Kunimitsu Kun… are you falling for him Mina?" mom questioned with twinkling eyes, "He's actually a good choice if he wasn't so cold and serious.

"No, he acts like a brother to me. There's a lot more girls that deserves him more than I do." I added, "Occasionally, he would loosen his guard and laugh. Being able to loosen his guard means he's comfortable with me just like he would be with a family member."

Seeing how this was going no where, mom brought up what I didn't want to hear.

"Mina, are you feeling better?" She ran her fingers through my hair.

"Mom I'm fine you know me. I recover fast." I forced a smile.

"Doctors will be looking for the right bone marrow donor, so don't worry." She pronounced sensing my fake smile.

"Just in case mom, you owe me a lot of ice cream!" I said hoping to light up the mood.

Then I headed off to shower to avoid going back to that subject.


	9. Chapter 9: It's all my fault!

Disclaimer: I'm not good enough to own prince of tennis

Chapter 9: It's all my fault!

Next Morning at school…

"Tezuka-Kun, can you play a match with me?" The cocoa colored hair boy asked, his eyes obscured as usual. "I know freshmen are not suppose to play but we can play secretly afterschool."

The taller boy was caught off guard. He stared at Fuji for just a moment.

"Ahh I guess not?" Fuji answered for Tezuka, disappointment showing on his face.

Tezuka's mind was spinning. _I want to see Fuji's true self after what I saw the other day and I need to pay him back for finding out that I was left handed awhile back. But freshmen are not supposed to play games._

"No, let's do it." Tezuka said after a long pause. _This is the first time I have to break the rules…_"I've always wanted to play a match with you, Fuji Kun."

"Ok meet you at the courts near the minamidai park after practice." Fuji said happily while running off.

_Fuji Syusuke what is your potential?_ Tezuka wondered as he watched Fuji run out of his sight.

At Practice…

Since it was Fuji's turn to clean the classroom, he wasn't able to attend practice which was why he was unaware of something…

"Aizawa san would you like to rally with me?" Tezuka asked while I was tying my shoe.

"Sure," I smiled back. _Which hand are you using this time?_ I wondered as I followed him into an empty court.

_I should use my left hand today since she wasn't satisfied last time._ Tezuka thought as he placed his racquet into his left hand.

I served a flat serve and he returned it swiftly, faster than any other player I've seen before. With his left, the force that came back was stronger and had more spin on it.

I had difficulty returning it. My racket was on the verge of flying out of my hand. Even if I had a harder time playing him, it was definitely more enjoyable than being given a handicap.

After we rallied for a few minutes, a tall second year with messy black hair stomped toward Tezuka.

"You!" he practically yelled, "You little brat. You've been laying us with your right all the time!"

Tezuka seemed unreceptive, he did not respond.

"I've watched you for a couple of minutes. Your left hand is your dominant hand! Playing your senpais as your right hand test subjects huh?"

Everyone in the tennis court gathered around. _Everyone is watching but they're not trying to stop it?_ I was angrily shouting in my mind. _They must be astonished also that Tezuka is left handed…_Instead of waiting for anyone to stop the scene created, I tried to jump in to yell at the second year but I felt a hand pull me back.

"Mina-chan, you shouldn't get involved. It's too dangerous." Kawamura kindly said.

I tried to fight off his hand but he's the heir of a sushi shop. I'm no match for his strength.

"Oi Takeshi just drop it." Another second year finally stated. He seemed to have recovered from the fact that Tezuka was left-handed.

"No! He took as for retards. Stupid freshmen. If you're not going to lose your left hand, then I'm going to break it!"

Before I was able to blink, the hot headed second year swung his racket, fast and hard.

"Tezuka-kun!" I screamed out, attempting to run up to him but failed due to Kawamura.

Tezuka's glasses slipped off his face and landed on the ground. Tezuka clutched his left arm.

"Don't fool around." Tezuka declared fiercely, but quietly. Everyone was silent.

"How many years did you play tennis to think that a racket is for abusing people!" For the first time, Tezuka yelled. The hot headed second year seemed intimidated now. He backed off nervously.

"If this is the quality of this club, I'm quitting." Tezuka picked up his glasses.

"What are you guys doing?" A playful voice sounded and Yamato Buchou slowly strolled into the tennis court. "Twenty laps around the court now, everyone." He asserted without waiting for an answer.

With no choice, all members started to jog but Tezuka remained behind.

"You're part of the club too." Yamato said, adding a smile.

"Buchou, I decided to quit. It was a short period but thank you for everything."

"Eh? But I haven't received your resignation letter. After I receive that you may resign. But first you must run 20 laps."

Tezuka looked up surprised, but not daring to cross an authority, he began jogging.

"Why is he running when he's the victim?" Oishi he asked fiercely as he came up running next to me. I shrugged, thinking the same thing and I saw Oishi run back the way he came from.

"Oishi-kun?" I questioned but I was running at the same time.

Oishi held out both his hands and blocked Tezuka from running further.

"Tezuka-kun, you…you can't quit! We promised!" Oishi was loud enough to be heard by everyone that was running.

"I'm sorry Oishi-kun…" Tezuka answered guiltily, his eyes on the ground.

"Hmm looks like your friend wants to quit too…" Yamato popped out from the back.

Meanwhile…

_I just realized…this is all my fault! _I screamed inside my head. _If Tezuka didn't use his left hand, nothing like this would have happened. He always used his right hand so no one knew…This is all my fault! I don't think I can face him right now. _With that, I ran to the locker room, gathered all my belongings and practically ran home.

"Where's Aizawa-san?" Tezuka asked as Oishi passed by.

"I think she left. She didn't come back to practice."

So they ended up walking home together.

"So Tezuka-kun, are we still keeping our promise? We promised that in our senior year, we'll lead Seigaku into Kantou and even to the Nationals."

"Yeah." Tezuka slightly smiled and Oishi gave him a high five.

"Oh Oishi-kun, I have to go this way today." Tezuka said, hoping Oishi wouldn't follow.

"Ok. Bye Tezuka-kun, take care of your arm." Oishi said, sounding like the mother hen that he was.

Tezuka was relieved. He surely didn't want any one to catch him playing a forbidden match.

"Tezuka-kun, you came! I'm so glad!" Fuji said, his usual smile shining brightly.

At Mina's house…

I was still fluttering back and forth. _Tezuka is still not home yet. It shouldn't take him this long to find out that I left school already. What's taking him so long? But what should I do when he gets home? Should I say something? I'm afraid to face him. I was the one that injured his arm. What should I do?_ With one foot swinging down and the other bent, I was sitting uncomfortably on the porch while my brain was becoming a plate of chow-mein.

Then I looked up to see Tezuka heading towards his gate. I thought my heart stopped. My body wanted to run inside while my conscious told me to say something.

"Tezuka-kun!" I ran up to him, "How's your arm? I'm sorry I left first without saying anything! Come here, I need to see your arm. Why did it take you so long to get home!" I huffed and puffed as I pulled his right arm into my house. I was boiling with worries and guilt, about to explode.

Tezuka didn't say anything while I rolled up his sleeves.

_He must hate me now. He doesn't even want to answer at all._ _But of course, I deserve it. This is my doing…_

His arm was better off than what I had imagined. Instead of a bloody, bent arm, there was a big bruise.

I ran up to retrieve the first aid kit and took out an ice-pak from the freezer.

I applied some menthol ointment, placed some cotton on his bruise and wrapped his arm with a soft roll of fabric. Finally, I placed his arm on the ice pak.

"Tezuka-kun, I'm so sorry if it wasn't for me, nothing like this would have happened to you." I blurted out, not knowing where to start.

"No, no one is to be blamed. I was wrong to keep it away from senpai-tachi that I was right handed but that was no reason for me to receive the blow. Also, I decided to use my left today, you didn't tell me to."

His expression was unreadable like usual. Even if his words told the truth, I still felt I was at fault.

"Aizawa-san, I'm sorry. I can't keep you company today. I want to go see a doctor to check my arm. Thank You for the first-aid."

I nodded and with that he stood up. I didn't know what to say. I wasn't even able to pull a smile. _How can I?_ I walked him outside to his gate and we parted in silence.

_He can hate me forever; he can abuse me whenever he's wants to but let his arm be okay…_I prayed sadly as I watched him enter his house.

At the doctor's clinic…

"How is my son's arm?" Ayane Tezuka asked as she peered over from the waiting seat.

"It's fine. The bruise should recover in about a week. He should avoid long matches and tremendous amounts of practice." The doctor said calmly. "How did you get a bruise there?"

Tezuka spaced out while he listened to his mother gave the doctor a short summary of his unfortunate afternoon.

Next morning…

"Mina, stop playing with your food." Dad finally said after he watched me poke at my scrambled egg for about five minutes.

I poured myself a cup of hot tea and sighed. I didn't get to sleep for the whole night due to my worry for Tezuka's arm.

"Mina, it's not your fault. It was about time that people found out he was left-handed." Mom gently said.

I didn't know what to say anymore so I got up and left after bidding my parents good-bye.

I stood gloomily, leaning against my face and gazing up at the sky. It was beautifully clear sky, no cloud in sight. _Must be because I trapped all clouds into my heart…_While I continued on my dismal moments, I didn't notice Tezuka walking out.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your thoughts but are you ready?" he asked, straightforward and apathetically.

"Teuzuka-Kun! What did the doctor say about your arm?" I inquired urgently.

"It's fine. The doctor said to not play for couple of days and to avoid tremendous amounts of practice."

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I gently placed my arms around Tezuka's waists and my head on his shoulder.

"I'm so glad. But I'm sorry. If it wasn't for me you wouldn't have to go through this."

I'm sure Tezuka was not expecting this since he twitched as soon as my head reached his shoulder but somehow I was surprised he allowed me to hug him until I let go. This was my first time giving a hug to a boy and it was not bad. I felt his bony hips and smelled his clean crisp shirt with a detergent smell. His soft hair grazed my forehead when the breeze blew. My ear rubbed against his smooth cheeks and my cheeks felt his throat swallow.


	10. Chapter 10: Hooray for Undokai!

Disclaimer: I'm not good enough to own Prince of tennis

O my gosh! I deleted my whole story by accident! I don't think there is a way to retrieve is so all my precious reviews are gone! If someone knows a way to retrieve it please help me! This is the same story so i hope you guys can proceed reading it like usual...

Chapter 10: Hooray for Undokai!

Undokai literally means sports day. All Japanese schools do this every year on a certain Saturday and it takes up the whole day. The whole school is divided into the red team or white team and students distinguish their team mates by wearing the double sided cap (one side is red and if you flip it, it's white.) Teachers keep score of the two teams and at the end of the team, a winner is chosen.

"Attention please class," my homeroom class teacher announced, "As you may know, this Saturday is our annual undokai."

"There will be 5 events that we will be participating in this year: flag catching, tug-o-war, 100 meter dash relay, ball separation and tail extracting. Also each grade has to perform a unique dance." She continued while she happily watched the excited expressions of her students, "Oh, one last thing, we're red this year."

In order for Undokai to go smoothly so that it may be entertaining to our parents and to increase our chance of winning, our PE time was spent to practice for it.

"For flag catching, a girl and a boy must pair up, the boy must piggy back the girl to catch a flag that will be stuck on the tree and come back before the opposing team. Understand?" my teacher barked, "Oh, just to avoid any trouble, I'll place all the girls' name in this box and the boys will pick out his partner from here."

Instantly, voices of boys were heard such as "Oh, please don't let me pick out Sugita, she looks heavy…" (poor thing :() or "Hey I want to partner up with her…" _such whiners._

"OK. All of you got a paper? Boys stand next to your partner."

The person that approached me was the smiling brunette. "Hi Aizawa-san, seems like I was lucky today." He said pleasantly.

"I hope I'm not too heavy for you Fuji-Kun," I smiled back.

We looked around at the different pairings and Kikumaru ended up with the scrawny red headed girl with freckles, Oishi ended up with a pure white skinned, black haired girl that always braids her hair, Tezuka paired with one of the girls of his fan club and Kawamura's partner was Sugita Miho. _I'm sure Kawamura-Kun will be able to piggy back her just fine even if she's a bit heavy…_and Inui paired with a very pretty girl that had barbecue sauce colored hair with large eyes. She always ties her hair in half. I could see Inui was happy with his partner by the way he blushed and looked away each time her head turned.

My teacher divided our class into two teams as practice and we lined up to get ready.

"Get set! Ready! Go!" and off went the first pair. Our team was ahead of the other team by just a bit. "Go Tsutomu-Kun!" I cheered with the rest of my team mates. Since I was third in line, my turn came pretty fast. As I saw the pair in front of me head back to the line, Fuji urged me to hop on. Nervously, I hopped onto his small back. Skinny but strong, Fuji carried me up easily and actually ran toward the tree. While he was running toward the tree, I looked over to see the pair we were going against and it turned out to be none other than the robotic Tezuka.

"Yikes!" I cried out, knowing Tezuka's ability, he might beat us. "Go Fuji-Kun! We can't lose to Tezuka-Kun!"

"Ok. Hang on tight!" With that Fuji ran so fast he had hard time stopping at the tree.

I yanked the flag out of the tree as hard as I can and proceeded to going back to the line. Unfortunately, the Tezuka pair came back to the line at the same time as us.

"Good Job Fuji-Kun! Are you ok?" I patted him on the shoulder for his hard work.

We rested on the side and watched the rest on the line to finish. While I was watching, I caught Tezuka's partner chatting with her friends.

"Tezuka-Kun's back was so strong and firm and I got to hold on to his neck tightly." She said while her expression seemed like she was in another world.

_Girls these days…_I thought, _Are sexual hormones developing already?_ While I watched in amusement, I faintly felt a sharp feeling in my heart. _Am I jealous?_

I quickly shook my head to proceed with the next event: ball separation.

Basically, the teachers throw out countless red and white balls and each team must fetch the ball of their color and throw it into the basket. The problem was here, I couldn't throw it into the basket. The basket was similar to the basketball hoops except it was a straw basket suspended in the air, not a plastic ring with a net attached. I kept missing the basket and I was about to lose my patience. I heard a small laugh behind me as I tried for the fifth time to throw the ball in.

"Aizawa-san you're so cute," the tensai said "You try to throw it in with so much persistence I couldn't help laughing."

"I hate this…" I groaned, my eyebrows raised in annoyance.

"Here, I'll help you. Bend your arm a little more." He took hold of my arm and urged me to bend it a bit more. However, that was unsuccessful also as I threw the ball and the ball hit the rim, coming back to smack Fuji right on the face.

"Uh-Oh, Fuji-Kun are you ok?" I quickly turned around, half amused and half sympathizing him, "That's what you get for laughing at me."

The tensai laughed along with me and I decided to just hand him the balls while he aimed it into the basket.

Mean while…

Tezuka was calmly picking up the balls from the ground.

"Ne ne look! Tezuka-Kun is picking up the balls with such effort. So hot looking!" a small cluster of girls chimed.

Tezuka sighed, _when is PE over?_ As he made a perfect throw of 5 balls into the basket, he caught sight of Mina and Fuji. He watched as Fuji laughed at Mina and helped her aim better. _I wasn't able to make her smile like that. When she's with me, her smile is just polite, it's not as though she's enjoying herself, _Tezuka analyzed in annoyance. _When is PE over?_

"I switched the schedule for today. Since we don't have much to do in Art, I decided to practice our class dance. Besides, dancing is considered visual performing arts. Ms. Tanaka and I have talked over this and we decided best for Freshmen Class to dance American Square dance."

_More Joy…_Today was just not Tezuka's day. One thing he hated was being partnered up; the second thing was Tezuka does not dance. As he silently glared at the teacher, who was oblivious to the electric aura, she motioned for the class to get up and stand against the wall. She began to place the students in height order.

_Whew not too short and not too tall…_I breathed a sigh of relief as I was placed in the middle. Across from me was Fuji and behind him was Kikumaru.

"Yahoi!" Kikumaru greeted, noticing that I was nearby. "Does this mean we might become partners?"

"I hope so," I said longingly. I was more comfortable around the tennis boys than other boys in our school.

My teacher mingled the line of girls and boys, forming a alternating boy-girl-boy-girl pattern and formed a circle with the line.

"Girls, the four boys to your left will be your partners."

_Four partners?_ My mind automatically stated, _wow Americans sure are flirty…_

I glanced toward my left and my four partners were: Fuji, Kikumaru, Ishida and Saitou.

The tallest boys in the class were Tezuka and Inui. Inui was practically about half a head taller than any other boys.

"So boys and girls this dance is very simple. Just listen to the song which is practically the direction to the dance."

The song was:

_Let's all join hands and circle the ring_

_Stop where you are give your partner a swing_

_Then swing that girl behind you_

_Then you swing your own with a little admiration_

_Elm and Left with a corner girl_

_You dosee do your own_

_Now you all promenade with a sweet heart and sing_

_Sing it oh Johnny Oh Johnny oh…_

And this was repeated four times.

Tezuka was not enjoying this one bit. _I do not dance…_He practically fired his feelings through his eyes. Occasionally he would steal glances at what Mina was doing and every time, he would catch her laughing with Fuji or Kikumaru. Somehow, he longed to be by her side, absorbing her voice instead of standing here being stared and whispered at by his fan club. _How do celebrities put up with this?_ Whenever he had to promenade with his partner, his partner was nearly drooling on his hands. _Why couldn't I be a bit shorter? _was all he could think of.

I was on the other hand, not enjoying this as much as I look like. Fuji and Kikumaru were safe to dance with but Saitou is just perverted. He always had this grin on his face whenever I was his partner and when we promenade, he placed his left hand on my waist, not that it was necessary. Out of annoyance, I crushed his toe purposely.

"Ouch!" Saitou yelped, "Oops Saitou-Kun I'm so sorry. Whenever you extend your left hand, I'm forced to spin around. Hard not to step on you since you have long legs." I apologized guiltily. _This should take care of one pervert…Only if I had Inui or Tezuka as partners, I don't have to worry about being harassed._

_I was going to write about Saturday but I need more inspiration sorry it was short chapter but review please so I can have some ideas for the next chapter!_


	11. Chapter 11: Let's Get it Started In here

Disclaimer: I'm not good enough to own Prince of tennis

Chapter 11: Let's get it started in here!

Saturday…

Seishungakuen was flooded with students wearing navy blue shorts, white polo and red/ white cap, accompanied by their siblings, parents or relatives.

While the principal made an introductory speech, I quickly spotted my parents, who didn't work on weekends, and Tezuka's parents. I waved slightly to avoid getting the principal's attention and proceeded to stand with the other students.

The first event was tug-o-war. In the match 1st year against the 2nd year, 1st years were no match compared to the tall matured kids. Tug-o-war concluded with the 3rd years in the first place, 2nd years second and first year was last. The score cards on the window of the sixth floor showed that the red and white team was tied since the third years were divided between red and white teams. Next event was 100 meter dash relay. This was too simple of an event but we had fun cheering on our teammates. 100 meter dash relay was a race against three other people where you run 50 meters to one side and come back and give the baton to the next person. I got up to line up and stand in ready position. The people I was competing against were Hitomi(One of my best friends in seigaku) and two third-years and a second year. The first person that came back handed his baton to the second year and off she went.

"Come on Tsutomu Kun!" I urged as he got closer to my line. Tsutomu roughly handed me the baton, panting heavily and I took off in. While I ran, Hitomi was catching up to me. Since she was on my team, there was no penalty for being slower than your teammate. However I am one competitive person. I increased my speed like a jet engine and almost caught up to the second year that had an earlier start. Just as I got halfway and changed my direction to head back, my left forearm began to seize uncontrollably. I wondered if I should stop but seeing the second year further ahead caused me to catch up with her. Running uses legs, not arms. Fortunately, the seizure lasted only about 20seconds and I increased my pace to the full extent, beating the second year and successfully handing the baton to my line first.

_I hope no one saw that I slowed down because of a seizure…People might start asking me what type of illness I have…_

Near the end of the line…

"Eiji did you see that?" the owner of two sky blue orbs asked softly. The blue orbs were clearly in sight today and they seemed to absorb all the sunlight into it to sparkle.

"You mean when Mina-Chan slowed her pace??" A red head responded immediately, not as bouncy as usual, serious was the more rightful adjective this time.

"Mmm-hmm." Fuji seemed astonished yet curious at the same time.

"Yesh Fuji. Nya… I though it was only me. I saw her arm shake when she changed direction. I would have thought her arm was shaking because she was running but then she slowed down and grabbed her arm but it wouldn't stop shaking."

"Yes, Seigaku's best doutaishiryoku (I'm sure you know this from the anime.) I don't think we should mention anything though." The creamy white face did not hold its usual smile but instead was replaced by a frown.

Moving on to the next event: Tail extracting

_I feel insecure about this…_Tezuka sighed as he inserted two long strips of red cellophane in between the elastic of his shorts and his boxer.

Tail Extracting is basically pulling out the tail from the other team and at the time limit the total of tails are counted. The rule players must follow is :the only way to avoid getting your tail pulled is to run, not tug on your own tail.

"Do I make a cute cat?" Kaga purred while shaking her butt.

"Too cute!!" I cooed, amused at how playful she is.

"Yeah, can I take a bite out of your round butt cheeks?" Miyuki said sarcastically and Hitomi was laughing so hard she had to clutch her stomach.

"Hey don't you guys feel insecure about people trying to pull a tail? What if you get some pervert trying to touch your ass?" Hitomi whispered when she was finally able to calm down.

"Yeah, especially Mina's in danger. People's gonna be trying to touch her instead of pulling the tail. Hey let's run in groups. Mina's in the middle." Kaga was especially protective of me.

"You mother hens. Don't worry I'll slap any guys that dares to come near me wait no that's against the rules… But anyways, just run where most girls are and that should be safe." I answered, grateful for their concerns.

We started to jog lightly but then our plan to run in groups didn't work as Hitomi was being chased by a tall athletic second year. _There goes one of her tails. _I predicted since he was fast and quick.

I was used to running in tennis so I jogged around and caught about 4 tails when the time was called. Unfortunately, I lost one of my tail unconsciously when I was busy running. _Oh well better than having perverts targeting your butt right?_

The referees counted up the red and white tails and the total score was 173-195. My team was down by 22 points.

Next event: Flag Catching

"Assemble!" The principal called out and students rushed to form 4 lines which were separated according to teams and genders. Tezuka paced himself to the end of his line. He wasn't just lining up; he was looking for the right partner. He caught a glimpse of his ideal partner heading toward the end of her line so he rushed to the end of his line. However… _misfortunes sure can happen at bad times…_Tezuka thought as he fumed when Mina paused to wait for her friends. If she had just rushed to the end of her line, she would have been his partner. Instead, she was the partner of the person behind him, who was…Fuji. _What luck…_Tezuka stared ahead, fuming continuously.

"I guess I'm your partner again." Fuji reported as he gave a smile toward me. "Oh, Tezuka-Kun, you're back here? I thought you would have been at the front." _Don't talk about unnecessary things Fuji…_Tezuka barked in his mind."Hnn" was all he said in spite of his feelings. Even with Tezuka's poker face, nothing can get away with the tensai's analytical eyes.

"Hey Tezuka-Kun?" The smiling prodigy inquired, "Hnn?" Tezuka grunted with a interrogating tone. He didn't bother turning around. "I need to talk to Ishida-Kun for a moment regarding our club meeting. Do you mind switching with me?" Careful not to express anything, the bespectacled boy solemnly stood aside as Fuji stepped in front of him.

"Oh then Tezuka-Kun, Yoroshiku!" I chimed, noticing that he was my new partner. He nodded and proceeded to look ahead at the game. Once again, my friends and I cheered on top of our lungs and it was Fuji and Miyuki's turn.

"Ganbatte Miyuki!!" Hitomi, Kaga and I encouraged as she hopped on on the delicate looking back. Like a divine wind, Fuji's speed allowed him to head back in a second.

Tezuka looked at me as though urging me to get ready. _This is hard…_I whined in my mind. Touching any body part of a stern person might set an alarm off. "Mina hurry Miyuki is almost back!" Hitomi insisted, seeing my hesitation. I hopped on nervously and my hands squeezed his shoulders as Miyuki reached the line. Tezuka held onto my legs to stabilize me and began running. _His hair's really soft…_I thought as my cheeks rubbed against it. My arms encircled his milky white neck and breathed in his detergent smell. A moment later, I yanked the flag out of the tree and enjoyed the rest of the bumpy ride. I gave a smile towards Hitomi as I reached the line and Tezuka unloaded me cautiously off his back. I headed toward Miyuki when I landed, not taking notice of Tezuka's gaze on me.

_Did she prefer Fuji as a partner? She hesitated to get on my back and she didn't say anything afterwards. With Fuji she was laughing…_Tezuka pondered while he stood stoically.

"Wow you're back, that was fast." Miyuki looked up with one hand placed across her forehead to block the sun.

"Yup, it's Tezuka-Kun the perfectionist, do you think he would like coming back slower than you guys?" I questioned, not expecting an answer.

"He you know, you guys are actually cute together. Seems like you're missing a bitter side and he's missing a sweet side. Sweet plus bitter equals perfect."

"Is that why you got a B on your last math test?" Kaga joined the conversation with chuckles after her rough ride, "Math needs logic and what you just said has zero logic sense…"

They began to debate continuously while I was dazed in my thought. I felt rude for not saying anything after he gave me a piggy-back. I felt my heart thump pretty loudly when I was on his back that I was embarrassed to say anything. _What's wrong with me? I was fine when I practiced with Fuji-Kun._

After flag catching ended our score was 380-385. _Okay we're catching up we could win this. _I encouraged myself. But before another event, it was lunch time. I quickly spotted my mom waving me spread out with food, dad, and Tezuka's parents. They set up a picnic near the grass field along side the lake that was in our school. (You can see it in episode where Momo is ditching tennis because he lost to Inui in the ranking tournament.)

"Hi mom, dad, Tezuka- san." I greeted, "Tezuka-Kun isn't here yet?" I questioned noticing an empty spot that his parents reserved for him.

"No, can you go find him for me, Mina chan?" his mom said pleadingly.

"Sure! And also I'll call my friends over here to sit with us."

I skipped around happily and stretched my arms. I don't get to relax this often. Tezuka was easy to find with his height and his chestnut brown hair.

"Tezuka-Kun!" I called and four heads turned around. The heads belonged to Fuji, Kikumaru, Inui and Tezuka.

"Wow there's four Tezuka-Kun now?" I laughed while Tezuka glared at the rest. "Your parents are over there near the grass area and they're waiting for you."

Tezuka nodded and in a moment, I found Miyuki, Hitomi and Kaga with their parents. "Hey guys, do you want to join me near the grass area? It's cooler." I said while panting.

"Yeah! My parents came later so they couldn't get a spot there." Hitomi exclaimed, earning guilty expressions from her parents. The four of us raced toward the grass field and my friends spread out their own picnic mat as I settled with my parents. Tezuka was already sitting there and he was eating a sushi roll.

"Mina Chan eat up. I made extra." Tezuka's mom said as soon as my eyes looked down on the huge spread of food. Everything looked delicious from the heart shaped meat balls to the crab meat filled sushi rolls. My parents chatted with Tezuka's parents joyfully and I was conversing with my friends. I couldn't help to notice that Tezuka was just eating slowly and silently. _I should have invited Kikumaru and the rest. Knowing Tezuka, he wouldn't invite any one to sit with him._ I pulled my friends towards Tezuka and I sat down next to him. He looked up with his usual stoic expression.

In order to avoid an awkward moment, I started up the conversation. "Tezuka-Kun, do you think we'll win? We're so close but I don't know how we'll do on the last event."

"Hnn." Was the answer I received, which was ordinary.

_This is uncomfortable…_Tezuka thought. Usually, he is never around girls, except being around Mina. Any girls that he walked by would usually freeze, stare, drop her books or something which led to him never being around girls. It's good that Mina's friends treat him as an actual human being but he prefers to sit by himself.

"Hey Mina, I'm going to drink water I'll be right back." Kaga said and stood up. Miyuki said she needed to go see the score cards and Hitomi said she wanted to go see the school pets. And here I was again with the silent one.

Not knowing what to do, I continued eating the strawberry I was holding. For about 25 seconds, I felt Tezuka's gaze on me. _Is he dazing out???_ To stop his gaze on me, I turned around and pressed a strawberry against his lips.

"Tezuka-Kun, if you want a strawberry you can just ask." However, this was unsuccessful as he had his lips shut tight and the strawberry was half smashed, coloring his lips. _Oh boy, there is never an ordinary day with him._ I thought. _First, we go around putting whip creams on our faces and now we end up with strawberry fight._

I smiled guiltily as Tezuka reluctantly opened his mouth to eat the half smashed strawberry. _It's not that I wanted a strawberry…_Tezuka sure wasn't staring at the strawberry. He was watching the luscious lips that pressed against the red fruit.

"Tezuka-Kun you should eat more. You only ate a couple bites!" I grinned mischievously, "Or do you prefer me to feed you?"

He shook his head instantly and picked up his chop sticks to eat a couple more sushi.

_He sure is cute…_his stiff figure and his stoic attitude made him unique around other boys. You can never know what he's thinking and that's the fun about Tezuka Kunimitsu.

After the lunch break…

_I hate this event…_I sighed as I found myself reluctantly picking up red plastic balls off the ground. _I just can't aim right and I can't find Fuji-Kun right now._ I wasn't the only one with misses into the basket. Miyuki, Hitomi and Kaga were having the same trouble. As I watched my third miss into the basket, I saw five balls thrown into it perfectly. I traced the throw back to the thrower, expecting it to be Fuji, but I saw a bespectacled freshmen.

"Tezuka-Kun can you help me throw these in??" I pleaded as I rushed towards him with arm full of the plastic balls. He nodded and five by five, he placed the balls perfectly in to the basket. Our team members watched in awe as he did this. This process was fast and productive, therefore, in a second, everyone picked partners and something similar to an assembly line was formed. The ground that we stood on which was filled with red dots began to clear up as though a vacuum cleaner had swept through it. When the time was called, we finished picking up all the balls from our side while the white team had about 30 balls left. As the score cards changed, the red team hollered with jubilance as we saw that the score cards read 495-470.

The events were finally over and the day was to be concluded by the class dances, which was not scored. It was something for the whole school to enjoy.

And there we were, dancing to Oh Johnny oh. Just as I finished dancing with my last partner, my teacher announced, "One more time now with a random person. You guys can pull in anyone, including spectators!" I thought of pulling my dad but since he was a bit further than I would have wanted to walk towards, I caught Tezuka's arm and linked my arm with his. Without any words, I just smiled and promenaded. _Tezuka wasn't bad at dancing when he knows what to do. And the best thing about being his partner is that you don't have to be afraid of him trying to touch you!!_

_Wheew That was a long day right?! Anyone care to have sports day at America?? Thanks so much to WhiteAlchemistTaya for her attempt to re-review my chapters!!! Sorry I didn't update for two weeks!! I'll write the next chapter as soon as I can!_


	12. Chapter 12:Jealousy means hot Ricecake

Disclaimer: I own prince of tennis… in my dream!

I'm so sorry i haven't been updating!!! College Applications are huge pain! I hope to update every week after January since that's my last application that's due!!

Chapter 12: Jealousy means heated rice cake

The first day of summer vacation………

"Aiyah….How can she think of such a project?" I cried in disbelief, throwing my pillow at the wall.

Flashback

"Class we are going to do a marriage project!" my teacher announced joyfully. "Since the boys picked out of a hat last time, girls can pick this time." She mixed up the names of the boys in a black Mexican sombrero. "Basically the rules are just as follows. Respect each other, no harassing, and I want you to carry around a 2 pound sugar as your baby. This is part of a history project; write me reports during your summer vacation everyday. This should give you the reason to go out and have fun. Make up ideas imagining that it is a real baby. So describe the growth. Etc.."

The classroom was as silent as if someone turned off a radio. Everyone was dumbfounded instantly. The first to recover were the Tezuka and Fuji fans. _Those girls…they're never tired..._

They squealed up and down, hoping that the name they'll pick out is Tezuka or Fuji.

I reluctantly took out a piece of folded paper. _Wonder if I'll get Tezuka? But if I did what should I do?_ Somehow, my palms became sweaty and my hands numbed at the thought, stopping the process.

"Mina, what are you doing?" Kaga asked, amused how I can pose like a sculpture, "Did you get some pervert?" She quickly snatched the folded paper and opened it carelessly.

"Ooo you got Fuji-kun! Lucky! He's smart, and good looking so you won't have to worry a thing about acing this project,"

_No doubt about that but…_and even before I was able to finish my thought, most of the girls in the class started to squeal and scream, some sending their death glares at me to express their jealousy.

"Aizawa-san, are you my partner?" the tensai smoothly approached me.

"Yes," I answered not knowing whether to give a smile or a sigh. Fuji kun will be a good partner but jeaousy from other girls are unbearable.

"We were paired for the flag catching and now this. Maybe we were meant to be together?" Fuji announced publicly.

_You better not have done that on purpose Fuji-Kun! _This was embarrassing as my teacher was laughing hysterically and the girls on the right side screamed and beat their hands in anger. _Oh my, what fun…_

However, I missed one person sulking in the corner.

_This project is extremely degrading, _Tezuka thought. As Tezuka sat in the corner, pouting like a bull dog, Miyuki walked toward him.

"Ano…Tezuka-kun?" she asked nervously.

"Yes?" Tezuka replied without looking up from his book. _What was her name? She's one of Aizawa-san's friends._

Even though Miyuki has been here longer than Mina, Tezuka barely noticed her. Kaga and Hitomi were more talkative while Miyuki was quiet and shy.

With the quick response, Miyuki flinched and backed off a step.

"Umm… you're my partner…so um….yoroshiku." Miyuki whispered and before Tezuka can give the slightest of his infamous nods, she was out of sight.

_There are many people that stalk me and are afraid of me, but one that is afraid of me to that point of flinching is unusual…_Tezuka watched Miyuki disappear and resumed his reading.

End of flashback

PINGPONG!

_Oh great! _I thought as I ran down the stairs.

"Hi!" I came face to face with the flawless face. "Hi Fuji-Kun" looking at Fuji is always refreshing. Wearing white vest over a light blue dress shirt and a pair of khaki, he is one of the guys I know that has good style.

"I thought I should pick up our child." He said as he held up a 2 pounds sugar of C&H brand.

"Thank you! You sure will make a good husband." I said sincerely. I led him up to my room then a thought suddenly came over me.

"Oh yeah, do you mind if I invite Miyuki and Tezuka-Kun over? Then we can all work on this project."

Tezuka is my neighbor and Miyuki is one of my best friends. Might as well share ideas so that I can finish at least one month full of entries

"Of Course not…but you don't want to spend some time together alone wifey?" he said giving me a naughty grin.

I was astonished at first but began to laugh at his playfulness. Then in a second I called Miyuki who agreed instantly since she is terrified of Tezuka. "Yes!! Mina, you're my lifesaver!" she screamed over the phone, "I don't even know how to talk to Tezuka-kun. I think I need to write in some hieroglyphic to communicate with him or something."

I laughed continuously at her anxiety and Miyuki decided to head towards my house.

After I hanged up, I noticed Fuji gave a yawn one after another.

"You didn't sleep well?" I was concerned since in school, the tensai had his famous smile plastered over his face everyday.

"Sorry, I'm just a bit sleepy." I had him lie down and I was about to go down to the kitchen to make some tea when I caught a glimpse of the infamous grumpy face, who seems to be reading a booking

I opened my window and screamed across, "Tezuka-kun!!!" however, he's concentration was great. Even if Fuji was wincing in the back, Tezuka did not look at from his book. Luckily I remembered the digital-messenger that my friend gave me before I transferred here. I pressed the button for recording, and said "Tezuka-Kun if you're not busy, do you want to work on the marriage project together?" I released the button and gazed at the hand size, angel shaped technology. I checked if there were batteries inside. I threw a plastic bottle cap at Tezuka's window, causing him finally to look up and I sent my hand size angel straight towards his window. He hurriedly opened the window to catch the unknown object. And I exited my room to make some tea for the groggy tensai.

Meanwhile…

Tezuka curiously glared at the unidentified flying object. _Mina, unlike Fuji is a safe person so I guess this object is not a bomb or anything…_The pure white, bony hand turned over the object to find a post-it that said "Press here" he pressed it cautiously to hear the melodious voice that he at once recognized to be Mina's. "Tezuka-Kun if you're not busy, do you want to work on the marriage project together?" _shouldn't she work with Fuji on this? I guess I can work on some homework with her. Oh and I need to ask her this…_Tezuka thought as he glanced at two tickets on his desk. Inserting them carefully into his binder, he headed out of his house.

I finished brewing out a pot full of green tea when the door bell rang once again. _Miyuki or Tezuka?_ I wondered. _Tezuka won't answer that fast right?_ Wrong. I came face to face with the beautifully sculpted face. Tezuka always exerted this aura that was filled with charisma. No matter how irritable he looked, he always made me smile. I guess I got used to it… "Hi Tezuka-Kun! Perfect timing, I just finished brewing green tea." He followed me into the kitchen and took a cup of green tea with a murmur of thanks. I placed my up and a cup for Fuji on a plate and headed upstairs. _Why is she carrying up two cups for? Is someone here?_ What Tezuka saw was a terror to his eyes.

There on Mina's bed was the familiar tensai nestling comfortably on her bed.

"Fuji, what are you doing?" he asked instantly. "Oh Fuji-Kun was tired so I asked him to lie down." I answered, curious at Tezuka's attitude. Fuji just smiled and began to heave himself up. I was forced to leave the strange situation as the door bell rang again.

"Miyuki! Good thing you're here! What took you so long?" I asked as I pulled her in. "Sorry, I took a detour to the bookstore I heard the new volume of Fruit Basket is out," She said apologetically.

Meanwhile…

"What's that Tezuka?" the shorter boy asked as his eyes caught sight of two admission tickets of a sort. "Homework for Music Appreciation." The glasses boy answered in short fragments. "Are you going to invite me?" the sandy haired boy asked slyly, causing Tezuka to be silent. "I'm just kidding. By the way we should head downstairs. I think your partner is here." Fuji saved the silence and gave a smile that seems to say "I know everything."

Sure enough, besides Mina was his partner, who hid behind Mina as soon as she caught sight of the two boys.

"Miyuki what are you doing?" I questioned amusingly, gently pushing her forward, "We should get started, I want to finish at least 31 entries so we can relax for a month."

"By relaxing, do you mean studying for your finals that's in December?" Fuji suggested and Miyuki snickered behind my back.

"Yes. Do you have a problem with it? If you do, no dinner for you tonight husband!" _This project isn't bad and neither is having Fuji-Kun as a partner, since I don't have to see his stalking fans._ Things may have gone smoothly if Tezuka was a bit more outgoing but as we all know, no one can change him.

"…So on the 13th day, my husband got fired from his job…and he took out his anger by serving a tennis ball against the window…" I scribbled jokingly.

"Then our neighbor, Tezuka Kunimitsu started to laugh his head off…" Fuji continued by whispering.

This earned a glare from Tezuka who was not doing well with Miyuki.

"Um….so um…what happens on the 14th day?" Miyuki stutters constantly and whenever Tezuka would cast a glance, she glued her eyes on the papers. Fuji and I just shook our heads. _Might as well write my husband scared me and I never communicated with him whatsoever…_

Tezuka was greatly annoyed. _What am I doing that causes her to be so cautious? I'm never getting this done while Fuji and Mina are just finishing at the rate of one entry per second. This is not good, I have to take control._

Then he started to write continuously, pencils causing a whirl wind and papers flying.

"Ok I'm done. Andoh-san, tell me if you agree."

All three of us stared at the four eyed genius.

"Behold the Robot's power." I said subconsciously and I smiled guiltily as Tezuka cast off another icy glare.

"Let's go take a walk around the shotengai. We actually need to experience this project and we finished nearly the whole summer entry already." I suggested to disrupt the cold tension Tezuka was sending me.

I walked in the front with Fuji while Miyuki was walking with Tezuka behind us. It felt like double date, too bad Miyuki looked like Tezuka might yell at her any second. Fuji and I alternately carried our baby, Fuji tried to make me drop the baby couple of times. Tezuka on the other hand, volunteered to hold his baby the whole time as to fulfill his duty as a gentleman.

As we were walking past the park, I stopped at the sight of two boys rallying without a net. One of the boys fell when he missed the ball but got up quickly to take the next shot.

"What's wrong Mina? Do you know them?" Miyuki asked as I gazed at the two boys.

I shook my head, "Somehow, those boys reminds me of me when I started playing tennis." I felt nostalgic, "Hoping that I'll be able to catch every ball, persistently running after every shot, and believing that there is no such thing as iniquity." _Until reality slaps you in the face,_ I added silently. Little did I know that the silent figure beside Fuji was thinking the same thing.

"I think we should get going. The air is getting a bit chilly," the frail boy declared as wind started to blow his hair to one side.

Tezuka nodded and motioned for me to follow him. "Miyuki, I'll walk you home first." I said but I was cut off by my fake husband. "It's okay, you and Tezuka head home. I'll walk her home." He winked towards both of us and gently pushed Miyuki's back with his palm.

The shy and quiet Miyuki gave me an alarming look but was forced to follow as the blue orbs attempted to send a message.

I waved and followed the robot, who already started walking.

_Should I ask her now? Do I really need to ask her? Does she even like these things?_ Questions popped up one after another as Tezuka zoomed past the street and I trailed behind him.

"Tezuka-kun, slow down a bit please!" I panted, and finally caught hold of his arm.

_I don't know if he was lost in thought or something but he better not be walking fast on purpose!_

"Sorry…" Tezuka murmured and jammed his hands into his pockets to draw out two admission tickets to the Classical concert.

"Um…Aizawa-san. If you're free will you go with me to the concert Saturday night?" For the first time in his life, he stuttered and it was not a happy feeling at the moment. _I have to blame father for this…_

"Sorry?" Unfortunately I had to ask him to repeat as I was trying to keep myself from sneezing.

_I can't say never mind now…I'm holding the tickets. _Tezuka regretted.

"If you're free on Saturday night, will you go to a classical concert with me?"

"Wow, aren't these the exclusive tickets? I remember the Four-season company only had like two tickets left."

"Yes, my father suggested that we go as an experience."

"Oh…You should have asked Miyuki, it would have been a good entry for the project," Tezuka's face fell, "But as your imouto I get priority first!" I enjoyed classical music, especially since it was Beethoven's music that is being performed. Tezuka smirked as I turned around.

"Look, Tezuka-Kun," I pulled the authoritative-looking Tezuka toward a tree, "A blue jay! They're usually found in United States but what are they doing in Japan? And besides, did you know that blue birds symbolize happiness?"

_No one, not even my parents are able to interact with me at such ease. Maybe that's what makes her so special. She accepts the stoic person that I am and doesn't idealize a change in me as others. She doesn't treat me differently from others and maybe that's why…_But he stopped the thought immediately as a hand waved in front of his face. "Earth to Tezuka-Kun, are you at Mars again?"

Tezuka was satisfied that he didn't have to confront that thought...

_Sooooo how is it? Did I lose my touch for not writing too long?? PLEASE Read and Review!! I'll love you guys forever!!_


	13. Chapter 13:Memoirs of Beethoven

Disclaimer: I will own Prince of tennis!...in my next life

Chapter 13: Memoir of Beethoven

"Be ready by 7." Tezuka firmly stated, his glasses gleaming in the sunset.

I nodded and disappeared behind my gates while he did the same. What was my plan for tonight? Finish the rest of the homework. I have to be careful not to do too much though, I feel a bit light headed.

Saturday night…

"Coming!" I yelled out as I grabbed my purse. I opened the door and there, I found my stoic neighbor, as handsome and as ill-tempered as usual. _It's a shame how his appearance doesn't match his qualities…_

"Hi Tezuka-Kun, Thanks for inviting me to the concert!" I said while we walked towards his parents' car, which was parked outside my gate.

"Unh." Was all he said, but he gave me a questioning look as he glanced at what I was wearing. True, this is summer but today I didn't feel too well so I wrapped a scarf around my neck and gloved up on my hands.

"Oh, my parents are afraid I might catch a cold since it is during the night. Besides, the concert is at Rose Ball right?" _That place is out in the open. At least I'm prepared for the cold. _

He also gave another look at the empty cement area where my parents' cars are usually parked.

"My mom is working overnight today because there are extra patients at the hospital and my dad is going out with some new business partner." I answered instantly, hoping to satisfy his wonders. He nodded and opened the door to his black Mercedes.

The car ride was not very joyful since the chauffer seemed to be as grumpy as his young master and you know typical Tezuka, doesn't talk much at all. I was fine with this since I my head was starting to throb with some pain.

There were thousands of people at the Rose Ball, and we received free light-up star shaped pin so the whole Rose Ball was sparkling beautifully. It looked as though Tinkerbell has sprinkled her golden powder on the field.

Thanks to the exclusive tickets, we got sit in the top box and had the perfect view. The concert started with Beethoven's symphony number 5. I already saw people yawning and lying down using the empty seats. _Too rude _I thought. The middle aged man next to me yawned, "Oh my gosh, my boss asked me to come watch this, he should consider more for the people that doesn't like music. It'll just serve as a lullaby for me."

Then he turned to me, "Shouldn't girls like you stay at home to do something more exciting?"

I smiled, "True, this concert may not appeal to many people my age but I find the music soothing and it's beneficial in that it develops my imagination."

"How so?" the man asked as though he asked a teacher, "Because if you notice the uses of instruments and the change of dynamics…" I contradicted him of his Boring Theory by the end of the conversation.

Tezuka couldn't help but eavesdrop. _It's not eavesdropping,_ he denied._ I'm just hearing the conversation because she's right next to me._ Tezuka convinced himself_. Besides I have to make sure she's not arguing with someone right? Not like she would ever do but…_

He was surprised Mina actually enjoyed the concert. Like the man next to her said, most girls in junior high school had no interest in these things. They mostly cared about boys, hanging out with friends and beautifying themselves. There's nothing wrong with it, that's just the way it is. _But Mina's different. She seems to take advantage of everything she can to get something out of it. Yeah…that's why she's always taking copious notes in classes but…(Flashes back to when he saw her studying at her 10 inches thick notebook compared to his two pages of notes…) And why am I analyzing her?!_

"That was great!" I commented, taking Tezuka's arm as to not to lose him in the army of people.

_Her hands are strangely warm…_Tezuka thought as she took his arm. _Or maybe I'm warm? _he took his free hand and felt his cheek, which was ice-cold.

"You're not feeling well, are you?" I was surprised at his sudden declaration. I thought he was going to say something about me grabbing his arm.

"I'm fine." I smiled, but of course I knew I was feeling a tad bit dizzy. I just didn't know someone was so quick to catch that.

In the next second, I think he practically dragged me to the car, I could barely remember.

"I'm really fine, Tezuka-Kun," I whined as he hauled me into my house after I opened the door. But Tezuka is Tezuka, he is not known to be a follower.

"Where is your thermometer?" he questioned right away and I pointed at my drawer.

He immediately opened it and stared at the drawer which was filled with countless medicine bottles and pills. He lost no time in finding the thermometer and forced my mouth open.

_He's worse than my doctor…_I smiled at his rough medical care, since he was always known to be calm at all times. He gave me a look that seemed to say "I wouldn't be smiling now if I were you," and placed a hand over my forehead.

_I knew she didn't feel well at the beginning…why didn't I do anything about it before?_ Tezuka thought as he gathered a blanket around her.

The thermometer rang and the tall boy snatched it out of my mouth before I was able to raise my hands.

"41.5 degrees Celsius," he glared causing me to smile guilty, _And she said she was fine. _(Normal is 36 degrees Celsius)

"Tezuka-Kun, don't worry I'm fine, I usually just take these pills," I said pushing him away gently and approaching my drawer wobbly.

Tired of my evasiveness, he finally picked me up and dropped me on the bed.

"Which pills did you say?" he turned to the drawer, unaware that my temperature rose at least 2degrees.

"The white bottle with the red capsules." I answered, finally giving up in persuading him to go home. Besides, my 41.5degrees was coming into effect.

The authoritative figure handed me the bottle and a cup of water. I gulped it down reluctantly and pulled the comforter over my neck. I expected Tezuka to finally head home but he didn't.

I looked at him questioningly, "I'll stay with you until your parents come back." It was his turn to interpret my gaze.

"Don't bother," I said instantaneously, "I told you, my mom has to work overnight and I'm sure my dad will return sometime tomorrow." But I regretted saying this immediately as Tezuka repeated, "I'll stay with you until your parents come back."

_I should have lied…_I thought, but of course that wouldn't work either.

For a long time, he sat beside my bed, occasionally staring out the window but he didn't move an inch.

I was used to being alone most of the time but having company wasn't bad.

I gazed at the stern but beautifully sculpted face as he continued to watch over me. We began a staring contest as the silence continued.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" he questioned, unable to stare at me in silence no longer, "Because I'm not sleepy?" I pointed out, laughing feebly, "But I'm resting."

"Tell me a story, Tezuka-Kun." I requested, hoping to break the silent period, "Your story, Tezuka-Kun." I added as he got up to fetch a book from my giant book shelf.

He slowly sat back down and the moment of silence began again. I thought he decided to just proceed watching over me but to my astonishment, he began to talk in his deep baritone voice.

"There was a traveler that sought to cure pain and catastrophes of this world..."

I smiled in content as I pulled up my comforter higher. _His story is infused with his quality, It seems to define who he is: curious, intelligent and rebellious._

Before he was able to finish I had fallen asleep. His deep voice was soothing and gave me a sense of security. For a minute or so, Tezuka watched over the sleeping figure, unaware that his expression was softening as time passed by.

_Oh, I have to call my parents. _Careful not to wake Mina, Tezuka exited out the room lightly.

"…No, I'm not sure what time I will be home. Yes, I'm fine. Bye, mother." He was finally able to end the conversation with his mother and head back upstairs.

Mina was still sleeping soundly but he noticed she was breathing more heavily. _Maybe she's in a deeper sleep?_ But as he got closer to the sleeping beauty, cold sweat was dripping down her blushing face. He took a hold of her hand which was burning hot now. He ran back down to call his mother, "Mother, will you please come over? I think Aizawa-san is getting worse. I think we need to call a doctor now."

In a second, his mother had rushed over and they were both gazing down on Mina.

"Yes, I think we need to call a doctor, and her parents if possible." But emergency contact numbers were nowhere to be found and Ayane Tezuka was forced to call her doctor over.

"Kunimitsu, go take a shower and eat dinner." She ordered when she came back to the bedside. Her son stood still for a moment, "Now, Kunimitsu, I'll take care of Mina-Chan so you take care of yourself." Ayane was surprised, her son never failed to follow her rules and order, _is he maturing now?_ Not that her son was immature, the more correct way to put it maybe, is he more caring now? Tezuka nodded finally and after casting a last glance, he headed towards his own house.

"Dr. Yamaguchi, I've been waiting for you," Ayane greeted as she held the door open to let a middle aged man with a lab coat on, "I apologize to have called you at this time, but there is a patient upstairs."

The doctor nodded and followed the female into a girl's bedroom. They hurried toward the patient since the breathing was similar to panting now.

"…high fever. Need injection" the doctor muttered and reached into his first aid box to set up the syringe.

"Mina-Chan, Mina-Chan." Ayane called. _I think it's better if she knows she's receiving a shot, if not she might wake up screaming._

I was barely able to open my eyes. Light headed and blurry visioned, I wasn't clearly able to make out who the figures were.

"Mina-Chan is it?" the doctor said while taking my left arm out, "I need to give you an injection so that your body can cool down a bit." What he said didn't register in my mind but the doctor didn't need my permission anyway.

I just felt a small pinch and I fell asleep just a moment later.

"Mrs. Tezuka, are you her guardian for now?" Ayane nodded, "Did her parents tell you any of her condition?" To this, she shook her head.

"It appears that she seems to be suffering a high fever but…I'm not sure if her or her parents are aware that she has leukemia." Without waiting for a response, he continued, "For now, her fever will go down and she will be able to recover, however, she needs a bone marrow transplant fast. Her bones are starting to deteriorate." Ayane clearly knew the effects of leukemia. _That's the same disease that Lily had... _"The best that you can do is watch over her, try to keep her body temperature cool and persuade her to eat something so that she can take this." He uttered as he handed the dumbfounded lady a bottle of amoxicillin. Exciting her trance, Ayane thanked the doctor and walked him to the door. She bowed one last time and headed upstairs to find Mina with her eyes open.

"Mina-Chan how are you feeling?" But even without asking, the injection seemed to have an effect as her face was only slightly red and her breathing was normal.

"Better, thanks so much oba-chan" I replied, my voice husky. _I guess my tonsil is a bit swollen. _I tried to sit up to get a bottle of medicine when Ayane's hands pressed me back down.

"Whoa, just because you feel a bit better doesn't mean I'll allow you to walk around, you have to rest." Ayane added smiling, "What do you need?"

"I'm sorry to trouble you oba-chan," I said apologetically, "I wanted to get a bottle of amoxicillin in my drawer. My throat seems to be swollen a bit."

She nodded and opened the drawer. Unfortunately, I forgot that I was supposed to prevent anyone from looking into the drawer.

Ayane saw countless pills of every color and capsules of all sizes and countless business cards. She gazed at the world of medicine and picked up a business card, it was printed **Hayami Shou, Chemotherapist.**

I, on the other hand, was getting too dizzy to put together what the middle-aged woman was doing.

"Ne, Mina-Chan," Ayane began as she handed me the bottle but she shook her head when I looked up questioningly.

"Thank You so much." I took the bottle carefully and began to screw the cap off, "Oh Oba-Chan, it'll be better for Tezuka-Kun to stay away from me for awhile. I might infect him."

_This is it…I must do it…she already knows her own condition, _Ayane pushed herself, the countless medicine bottles confirmed that Mina has leukemia. _What's wrong with talking about what she already knows?_

Ayane took a deep breath, "Ne, Mina-Chan…" she began hesitantly, "Do you have any unusual health condition?"

I froze for a second, but looking at her expression, I understood that she knew my condition.

"The doctor recognized your symptoms and suggested that you find a bone marrow donor as soon as possible. I'm sure you already knew?"

"Yes, I did…" I answered quietly, "Since when?" she questioned me like a lawyer nailing a defendant.

"After I moved here, like 2 months ago." I avoided her eyes, the eyes that seemed to reach down beneath my soul. I was truly afraid of my emotions that may be dug up if I was questioned further.

She said no more however, and I was thankful for it. She sat by my side and held my hand as if my mom would have done.

"Is it painful?" she asked a moment later, "Having such health and you seem to hide it from the world."

I didn't want to answer any more questions, I felt like she was trying to pry my heart open, "I'm used to it," I answered with a smile, "I like to keep things to myself, because I'm afraid of being judged by others. I know that's cowardly but I want to convince myself that there's no such things as disadvantage. I want to live life to its full extent using my abilities and without any intervention." Ayane smiled and said no more.

I regretted what I said; I don't even know if it made sense to her. Seems like my heart was just blabbing the emotions that I trapped ever since I was born I felt vulnerable since she seemed to have penetrated my barriers. Occasionally she put her hand on my forehead to feel the temperature and pretty soon, I fell asleep.

"Oh, you were here?" Ayane commented as she found her son nestling on the sofa.

"How is she?" the poker faced son asked his mother, "She's fine. As long as she gets a good rest she'll recover by tomorrow. It's up to you if you want to stay or not. I think I'll go back now."

Her son just stayed in the same position as she headed toward the door.

"You have many similarities with Mina-Chan." She added as she opened the door.

Question marks were etched all over Tezuka's face as he watched his mother closed the door.

_I hope this was interesting enough…Thanks for the reviews!! You guys are such sweeties!! I hope you can do the same for this chapter too!!_


	14. Chapter 14: There's nothing like Tennis

Disclaimer: I will own Prince of tennis!...in my next life

Chapter 14: There's nothing like tennis

"Kunimitsu-Kun!" Aizawa Sayuri jumped as she saw the scrawny yet sturdy boy of thirteen perched upon her couch staring down seriously.

"Oba-San, Aizawa-San is sick from high fever. I apologize for not noticing it before we attended the concert." He bowed maturely while Sayuri was flustered. After she quickly nodded and told Tezuka to not mind, she rushed upstairs.

"My mother said she should be fine because she had called her doctor over to give Aizawa-san an injection."

Sayuri smiled in relief as she placed a hand over her beloved daughter's forehead and found out that her daughter's immune system was working fine.

"Will you join me for a cup of hot chocolate?" she asked with a smile as she strolled over to the kitchen.

Tezuka was about to answer no but one smile from Sayuri seems to have forced him back onto the couch.

"Here you go," the middle aged lady handed a steaming cup of hot chocolate with two marshmallows on top. "I'm sorry for troubling you Kunimitsu-Kun." She stated while sipping her tea. _Mina really resembles her mother, gentle looking, soothing voice and they both seem to have this charisma that draws people towards them because people can't grasp who they are…_

"I seem to have taken advantage of Mina's kindness for too long." Sayuri whispered, audible for the two of them as though she was thinking aloud, "Ever since Mina was about 4 years old, my husband and I left the house empty. We were always busy with work, we deprived her of any childhood fantasy she could have had."

Tezuka shifted in his seat in discomfort._ I don't want to intrude her in her personal thoughts. _

"Weekends were the only time we had to spend time with her but we never considered taking her to the amusement park. She was never upset that we exploited our weekends to something that we wanted which was usually rest. In time, we began to see her maturing by herself: taking care of the family, overcoming any obstacles and nurturing herself with qualities needed to become a humanitarian." The elder cradled her tea which was still steaming and she gave a huge sigh. "And the one thing she cannot do by herself, I can't help her with…I'm a failure as a parent."

Tezuka, slowly shook his head, "Your love and care toward her outweighed the pain of your absence," he interrupted her babbling smoothly, "She wouldn't have tried so hard to become the person she is today if she wasn't able to figure out how much she meant to her parents." Tezuka quickly stopped talking; it wasn't his nature to explain himself far.

"You're right," Sayuri nodded with a skeptical smile but imminently relieved, "Wow I'm so sorry its already 3 AM! I'll walk you back to your home. I'll thank your mother tomorrow. I'm sure she's already asleep. The stoic boy gave a bitter expression that seems to reject Sayuri's offer to walk him home but was stopped with an icy smile sent by Sayuri once again.

_This family sure uses their smiles as powerful tools, although Mina's is warmer. _

Tezuka couldn't sleep soundly for the rest of the darkness. He tossed and turned endlessly. _She's just having another fever, nothing unusual. But the key word is she's having ANOTHER fever…_

Next morning…

"Kunimitsu! Kunimitsu!...KUNIMTSU!!" Tezuka rolled off the bed and his book fell off from the desk, hitting his head in the process.

"Hmm?" he grunted groggily.

"You don't have to go to practice? It's in 15 minutes." His mother glared down on him as she observed that Tezuka's eyelids were about to close once more. But hearing that he was late, his eyes snapped open. In a flash, he changed his clothes and headed towards the door. "Ittekimasu!!" he yelled and started to run but braked to a stop as he caught sight of milk chocolate shaped into a pony tail.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" he questioned authoritatively as I gave him a smile.

"I'm fine now. Thanks so much for yesterday. You're the best!" I squealed as I hugged his arm. Annoying him was my hobby but seeing Tezuka uncomfortable is what I live for.

"Your mom didn't try to stop you?" he hit the bull's eye as he gently yanked his arm out of my grasp.

"Er…hehe." _Actually, she was asleep when I slipped by the living room._ I looked away quickly as he continued to glare at me for answers.

"Hi, Fuji-kun!" the smiling tensai was here to save my day again.

Meanwhile…

PINGPONG!

"Hmm?? Who is it so early in the morning?" Aizawa Sayuri yawned as she got up from her uncomfortable position on the couch.

"Morning Aizawa san, may I come in?" Even without asking, Ayane Tezuka was taking off her shoes, not that Sayuri minds.

"What brings you here so early?" The woman with the scrub shirt questioned as she headed toward the kitchen to make some tea.

"I need to talk to you about Mina-Chan." Ayane declared flatly, she is a Tezuka after all.

Sayuri gave no answer as she cautiously poured the tea into her ivory tea set.

"Have you reserved with any hospital for a bone marrow?" The elder woman asked right away.

"The doctor is waiting for a bone marrow donor." As Sayuri looked up, she noticed that her neighbor's expression was filled with anxiety and dread.

"I had a friend named Lily, she was one of the triplets…"Ayane began, "Leukemia can be genetically inherited but the symptom can arouse through continual stress."

Sayuri froze as she heard the latter. _This must be my fault Mina is going through this illness, if I trace our heritage, no one had leukemia in my family before._

"But leukemia is solved once you receive the bone marrow transplant, no?" Sayuri felt she met the devil once her neighbor's head shook a sad no.

"Lily received the transplant with 60 percent chance. We thought it was successful until she died 3 months later. Finding the right bone marrow is complicated; surgeons are not able to determine how your body will react to it unless you have already transplanted it," she continued, "I'm sure the cause was the environment that Lily worked in was harsh or unhealthy and stimulated her immune system too often. Did Mina-Chan spend time in an unhealthy environment?"

"I believe she's always had weak health. She used to get sick every year, she never had perfect attendance. Environment wise, she volunteers in the hospital and I remember she went to convalescent homes and orphanages to volunteer." Sayuri carried her head as she regretted not stopping her daughter, "Do you know of any treatment that Mina can receive or any hospitals that you would recommend that may increase the chances of her surviving?"

Ayane remained silent for a while, thinking hard and reminiscing what her friend had done in the past. "I can recommend you this hospital but it is in United States. This might be hard for you in that you won't be able to visit Mina-Chan as often but I've known that they receive bone marrows faster than any other hospitals and the doctor specializes in bone marrow transplants."

"If it increases her chances, I rather send her abroad." Sayuri sighed.

"By the way, is there a time limit to this?" Ayane said half jokingly, believing that at least it was 10 years. Diseases and cancers do not take effect fast since the virus acts as a parasite.

"2 years," the younger woman whispered, Ayane wanted to ask her neighbor to repeat it but judging by Sayuri's concealed face, she knew better than to have her repeat what she said.

"Soka…then I guess I'll have to call Lily's family. I'm sure they'll be happy to help out. It'll be like being given another chance to save their sister." Ayane stood up, "Oh and don't show that expression to your daughter, I know this is hard but let her enjoy life while she can. Let me know anytime when you need me ok?" Ayane rubbed her neighbor's back, receiving a weak smile in return.

_Flashback_

"_Lily, what's wrong?" seventeen years old Ayane demanded as she rushed toward her best friend._

"_Just not feeling well," her friend responded immediately but she wasn't able to hide the blood that she coughed up on her hands._

"_Lily, how are you feeling?" 25 years old Ayane questions once again as her once- healthy friend came out from the Positron Emission Tomography scanner. _

"_At least she's in heaven now…"_

"_At least she's in heaven now…"_

End of flash back

The last phrase stayed with her and Ayane Tezuka blanked out in her kitchen until her boiling can was making whistling sounds.

In Seishungakuen…

"As you all know, today's the raking tournament. Please check your court and your block. Remember to come report the score when you're done. Dismissed!" The gentle yet authoritative voice sounded through the tennis court.

Since I'm not a boy, I am not able to become a regular, therefore, I cannot play today. _How depressing…I guess I can just cheer on others. _Yesterday Captain Yamato had read aloud the names of members that will participate in the tournament. I was surprised when the only freshmen participating were Oishi and Tezuka. I expected Fuji to be chosen but I guess no one noticed his abilities except for Tezuka and me.

"Do you want to go cheer for Tezuka?" Speak of the devil, he was right beside me.

"Sure…" I answered right away but paused, "That is, if I can even see him." Of course, his court was already crowded; if I go, I'll be standing about 1 mile away from the fence.

"Maybe we should just head towards Oishi-Kun's court." I suggested right away and Fuji nodded also.

"Hmm?" the blue orbs were suddenly shown as he turned around toward the tree.

"What's wrong?" I questioned anxiously since Fuji's eyes are usually concealed 99 of his day and right now, the sapphires were opened, clear and wide. He shook his head and smiled once more as he urged me toward Oishi's court.

Behind the tree…

"Grrr….Fuji-Kun, why do you want to put your hands on a two-timer like her?!" the shadow hissed, her mouth quirking up in anger to reveal her sharp canines.

"Sssshhh he's going to hear you. You know Fuji-Kun is a genius. He has like a 6th sense or something." A chubby blonde quickly covered her friend's mouth with her hand.

"Kyaa!! He looked this way, I think he felt my ray of beauty shining through." A red head with freckles squealed.

"When are we done? I'm hungry…" an athletic looking boy ruffled his messy black hair, "So refresh my memory, we're here because…"

"We need to get that new girl's hands away from our two precious princes:Tezuka-Kun and Fuji-Kun!"

"You mean that hot chick?" the boy answered, his tongue hanging, "I don't think she's interested in any of them. She looks like she's more interested in girls, since she always scurries past the guys to talk to girls."

"A lesbo?! Makes our job so much easier," the red head nodded.

"Nuh-uh, we must carry out this plan. I swear she's going to end up playing all the guys in Seishungakuen…or only the hunks of our school, if we don't ambush her using this plan!"

"Err so what's the plan?" Her companions looked up at the girl filled with menace.

"Here's the schedule. So just follow me." She answered, smacking her lips.

Back at the court…

"Umm…Excuse me. Your name is Aizawa Mina-San, right?" a gentle deep voice announced.

I turned around to come face to face with the sunglass face, Yamato Buchou.

"Yes." I nodded, wondering what he needs.

"I want you to play a match against me," my eyes widened, "I need to report to Minamoto Buchou about how much you have improved and its time for her to determine the regulars also."

_If Minamoto Buchou wants to check my ability, why can't I play against her? It'll be really embarrassing, knowing that I'll be bageled or something…_

Just when I placed my water bottle down on the bench near the court, there was already a huge crowd.

"Buchou's planning to slaughter that girl?"

"He might just go easy on her!"

"Her legs are hot…"

"Gambare Mina-Chan!"

I frowned in disgust but I also waved with a smile towards the freshmen that I had become acquainted with: Kikumaru, Fuji, Inui and Kawamura.

"Which?" the captain asked, not wasting anytime.

"Smooth," I replied with a hint of anxiety.

"Please don't be nervous. Just do your best and believe in yourself." As usual, Yamato was on his role with encouragements.

I nodded graciously and chose to receive first.

_This is the captain of Seishungakuen, I shouldn't waste time in seeing his abilities, or I'll lose before I realize that the match already started._

The serve did not come as fast I expected but it was accurate. I aimed for the corners and any chances that I may have in drop shots.

"1-0 Aizawa leads. Change court!" the chair umpire called, causing the crowd to roar in confusion.

"Yamato Buchou, please play against me seriously. I'm stronger than I look." I whispered as I passed by him." _What's with these guys at Seigaku? Do I have to beat them 6-0 ? Hot-Cha here I go!_

That day, I alternated my serves with flat or slice serves and quickly finished up the match 6-1. I was truly dissatisfied that bystanders were whispering "Oh, Buchou took it easy on her. She is a girl after all." I bit my lip in anger.

By the end of the day…

"Everyone please come in!!!" Yamato announced through the tennis courts with his mega phone.

Once everyone crowded together, the friendly Buchou placed his mega phone down, "So after the ranking tournament, I decided that the people best fit as regulars are ….blah blah and Tezuka. Oishi will be an extra. And that is all I have to say today. Rest well and train well. We'll be ranking members every month so don't lose hope, anyone can become a regular if you work hard. Kantou tournament starts in January. Dismissed!"

Everyone started to walk towards the lockers until I felt a strong arm pulling me back.

"I need to ask you a favor," it was Yamato buchou with his go-lucky smile.

"How may I help you?" I questioned, eager to get away.

He grinned widely, "Can you... be the manager of boy's team?"

On the way home…

_Seems like I had no choice but to accept. (Sighs) Oh well, at least I can cheer on Tezuka-Kun and Oishi Kun if he plays. Manager is no big deal right? It's just recording scores, spying on other teams…what fun._

While I busily persuaded myself to love the job, I was unaware that I was being followed. Tezuka was not walking with me today because I was suppose to volunteer at the hospital.

As I turned at the corner, I came face to face with a curly black haired body. I noticed his muscles were well-toned since my head almost hit his chest.

"Oops, I'm sorry." I apologized as I walked towards my left to pass him. However, he followed me by moving to his right. I smiled apologetically, believing that it was another coincidence so I moved to the right.

"I'm sorry but can I get through?" I inquired, noticing that he moved in my direction once he saw me step aside.

"Obviously, I don't want you to pass. That's why I'm blocking you."

"Then I'll take another road." Annoyed, I spun around and began to power walk.

"Whoa, not so fast. I think you're hot, why don't we go to a café to chill?" he asked flashing me a grin. I declined his offer immediately but perverts are known for their diligence.

"You don't deserve your looks with that quality." He blabbed as I fumed with anger.

"Thank you for your opinion. Now if you are done…" my voice left me and everything went black.

The boy smirked in satisfaction and removed the handkerchief that he placed on my mouth. _I guess I get to have fun tonight. _

"Hey you guys can come out now." He announced toward the nearby bushes and three girls came out grinning maliciously.

_Thanks to everyone that gave me reviews and added me on your favorites, story alert, c2 community!!!_

_I know this chapter wasn't very interesting I'll try to make the next one a lot better!!_


	15. Chapter 15: Believe in yourself

Disclaimer: I will own Prince of tennis!...in my next life

I'm so sorry I haven't updated in awhile!! (Bows continuously) I didn't really have any good idea and applying for financial aid is troublesome!!

I'm going to do some review reply here!

lychee4ever: hehe you are sharp reader aren't you?

Lileth Azmaria: It's been updated! Sorry to have kept you waiting!

Lady Seiryu: lol awwws (takes Fuji but gives him back to Lady Seiryu) okay I forfeit.

DaydreamerMagby: heheh you'll see

Thanks to other reviewers!!! Please continue to support my story and don't forget to review!!

Chapter 15: Believe in yourself

"So what's the big plan, girly-girl?" the boy asked carelessly as he easily lifted me up.

"We'll take her to my house and when she regains consciousness, we (points to herself and the two other girls) will say that we helped her out from a rapist, ok?" she grinned like a cat that swallowed a fish whole.

"Rapist? Excuse me?! Then what's my chance of getting with her?" the boy said troubled, holding me closer toward his hairy chest.

"Err….absolute Zero…" the dark eyes shifted away uncomfortably.

"But I don't think she remembers you, Yukito." _must give him hope so he can help us carry her into my house. _

"Oh yeah that's true!" he answered easily convinced, as Kikumaru when he was offered ice cream.

"But why kidnap her if you're just going to return her?" for the first time the blonde opened her mouth. She was waiting for something vicious, something more action packed…but this?

"Heehe…that my friend, is because Tezuka-Kun lives right next to her!" she tossed her hair back conceitedly, "We have to act out how concerned we are when we call him. I have he's number." She hugged her cell phone as though Tezuka's number represented Tezuka himself. "I've been dying to dying to hear to hear his voice," Ever since she got the glasses eyed boy's number by eavesdropping on his and oishi's conversation, she has been calling his cell phone time to time using pay phones just to hear his voice.

"I thought it was some big plan…but this?" the red head declared, "Oh well, I guess it is simple enough even for that idiot," she pointed at the drooling boy "to understand. So our purpose is to have Tezuka-Kun notice us?"

The raven head nodded, "Oh and to keep us entertained, I thought of some misdeeds we can do to keep her away from out precious prince." She said taking out a long scroll-like paper.

Meanwhile…

"Thanks for coming with me," Kawamura gave a shy smile toward the bookworm.

"No problem. It's a good source for my data," Inui's eyes glinted behind his glasses.

"I sort of have a problem with flavoring the rice. Shaping the sushi is not bad for me."

The two boys paced themselves toward Kawamura Sushi with giant duffel bags over their shoulders. The shy boy was suppose to inherit the sushi shop after he graduates from trade school of culinary arts but it doesn't hurt to start early training, nope, doesn't hurt at all. After all, he's already in his freshman year right?

"Eh?" Inui turned his head in a precise 90 degrees angle.

"I think that's Aizawa." Kawamura followed his companion's gaze toward a small group of loud girls and a boy. One of them seemed to be reading from a long list. It was slightly dark so faces were not seen clearly but for sure, the girl being securely held was unconscious Mina. Her Seigaku duffel bag was being carried by a certain red head.

"Hey what happened?" Kawamura rushed over but not before Inui slipped a racket in his hand.

"Probability of Kawamura going insane 98" he smiled robotically. Then he added, "Good thing I brought extra notebook with me, I think I can fill them all up today…"

The data man stood on the side to let "The insane" Kawamura handle the way it's supposed to be.

"Hey you!" Kawamura shouted as his eyebrows quirked up and his muscles tensed.

"Eep!" the girls let out a small yell as their conscious were being tested.

"Burning! You dare to pick on my teammate? Show me your face and look me in the eye baby!" if he said this to a girl, they would have probably thought he was hitting on them. Fortunately, he pointed his racket at the brainless boy.

"Ii data…" Inui analyzed at the side, "Kawamura flings his racket 25 radians per minute, 30 revolutions per minute." "Err…um I dug her out of the trashcan." The boy stammered, afraid where the racket is heading towards.

"Baka…" the raven haired covered his mouth in a hurry.

_Okay plan B_ she prepared herself, "Some guy was trying to cling to her so we helped her get rid of him" _Sound concerned_ she told herself. "And when we finally fought him off, she was unconscious, shock probably. We were hurrying towards my house to take care of her."

"We will take care of her" Inui stepped out from the shadow, pushing his glasses up.

"But how do we know it's safe to leave her with you?!" the girl shot back _Hell no! This took me forever to plan._

"Orah! You dare to accuse us? With justice and courage maybe you were the ones that harmed her!" Kawamura started to swing with his racket again.

"Eep!" the 4 clustered up defensively.

"Hehe….you can take her, we leave her completely in your hands." The boy said, with sweat dropping. He can sense his friends' intent to kill him. Then after that he scrammed as fast as he could, with the girls trailing behind him. The racket fell out of Kawamura's grip as he caught the unconscious girl.

"So… what happened? Oh well, we better hurry." The sushi bar inheritor started to run at full speed.

"Hm… her symptoms lead to…tranquilizer." The data man concluded, flipping through the pages furiously, "Hey Kawamura…" he looked up and his companion was no where in sight. "Eh?"

At the sushi shop…

"Takashi!" Come help me wash the dishes!" Mr. Kawamura called as he heard his son enter from the backdoor.

"Oi! In a minute!" He gently placed the unconscious tennis regular down on a mattress. At least her breathing is normal now.

"Probability of Aizawa being on sedative 75, probability of her waking up in 3 seconds 73" Inui appeared at the doorway, "3…2…1…" and right on cue, my eyes opened up slowly. The sight I saw as I came to was an extremely concerned, thick browed face and a mad scientist face with gigantic square framed glasses.

My brain connected what happened before I passed out and what is happening right now, registering the conclusion that Inui and Kawamura were enemies.

I gave a small gasp and accidentally bumped my head against Kawamura's forehead as I sat up.

"Probability that Kawamura gets hurt 65...Hm…I'm getting really good at this." Inui mumbled contentedly as he clutched his data filled notebook. Hearing that data mumbled made me realize that 2 boys looking down upon me were my teammates. I apologized continuously and sighed in relief.

"So what are you doing here Inui-Kun?" I questioned while rubbing Kawamura's forehead in guilt.

At this Kawamura proudly answered, "He's here to test-taste my sushi."

"Sushi?" I repeated but was cut off by Mr. Kawamura calling for his Takeshi.

"I'll be right back. Relax and rest, Aizawa-San."

I nodded appreciatively and turned my head toward the data analyzer. By the gaze that he set on me, I knew he wanted to ask me questions to fill up his new notebook.

"So what happened?" he questioned once the Sushi inheritor was out of the room.

"Some guy was trying to hit on me and I resisted, He seems to have powder sedative on his handkerchief and covered my mouth and nose with it."

While I was talking he was scribbling away furiously. I smiled at his diligence.

"Would you like me to expand a little so you can write a novel about me?" I questioned teasingly and saw an eager look on his face. However, he shook his head and fired his next set of questions.

"How did he look like? Was anyone else wit him? Do you know what school he was from?"

"He had curly black hair, no one else was with him, wasn't wearing school uniform so I don't know what school he is from. But I do know he had hairy chest and was wearing sky blue v-neck t-shirt, jeans and a dog tag and he has medium frame."

_Not bad…_Inui nodded approvingly me. _Maybe I should make her my apprentice. _

But something clicked in his mind. Inui flipped through the pages and repeated what I had said. I nodded to confirm.

"But when Kawamura and I saw you, he was carrying you with 3 other girls and he claimed he dug you out of the trashcan."

I fumed at this, "And the girls claimed that they helped you from a rapist. According to what we saw, the boy seemed to be one of the people that helped you."

Puzzled, I wondered aloud, "But he was the one that drugged me…"

"Unless there was a conspiracy?!" Inui and I shouted at the same time. "I really should make you an apprentice. " He added as he pointed to his notebooks. I smiled hesitantly. The images of me standing next to the data king, with square rimmed glasses over my eyes, laughing evilly with him as we stood over a huge stack of notebooks weren't exactly thrilling. I violently shivered.

"Hey! My dad closed the shop so now we can start working!' The shy boy ran up the stairs, "Oh and Aizawa-san, if you don't mind, will you stay? I think my sushi is edible." He added timidly.

"Thank you. That is if you don't mind me staying." _Sushi…I hadn't had that in awhile._ Even if I am Japanese, sushi was something I rarely ate. Since most of the cooking left to me, I usually made simple food such as: vegetable soup, tempuras, pasta and stir fried dishes. Slicing raw fish just wasn't my hobby.

"Do you want wasabi or without?" he questioned both of us as we took a seat in front of him.

"Without" I answered, "Don't mind" was Inui's response. I was amazed as the thick browed boy professionally gathered up a handful of rice and molded it in a lightning speed. He already sliced the fishes (too bad) so he placed a slice on the pearl white rice ball and wrapped a small piece of seasoned around the sandwich.

"It's so pretty" I squealed as I cautiously poked the rice and the fish, confirming its shape and texture.

"Appearance passes as 95. Now for the texture..."

"Anything you find wrong?" the young chef questioned, his face scrunching up in anxiety.

"Um…it's really good but maybe there isn't enough rice vinegar, this doesn't bring out the taste of the fish." I commented hesitantly. I didn't want to criticize him but he was looking for advice right? He nodded thankfully and we glanced up at Inui.

He was gulping down the cup of water as fast as he can.

"Inui?" Kawamura questioned, pleading for his friend to be all right.

"…too (coughs) much… (Cough)…wasabi…" he managed to get out.

"Really?" the other boy said as he picked up a sushi from Inui's plate.

"Um…I think we should trust Inui Kun and…" I warned but too late…

"Ah!!! What is this?!"

After awhile…

"So…I guess you're going to inherit the sushi shop after you graduate?" I questioned as I walked by Kawamura's side. Inui and Kawamura refused to let me walk alone and Inui parted with us at the last corner.

"Yes, so I promised my father I'll concentrate on culinary arts after junior high school, which means I will quit tennis." He looked longingly at my duffel bag which he forced me to let him carry.

"Quit tennis?" I cried incredulously. "But your talent…you use your strength well in tennis."

"I love tennis of course, but I have to pursue my future career as sushi shop inheritor." I can feel the sadness in his eyes.

"But why not do both?" I insisted but received a shake of no.

"I don't want to do two important things halfheartedly." He began but I interrupted him.

"Why do you think you will do what is important to you half-heartedly?"

"You saw how my sushi was a failure, if I keep this up, I'll be a shame for my parents. An heir to the sushi shop must know how to make perfect sushi."

I smiled at his concern for his family pride and his dedication toward his goals. As strong as he was on the outside, he was very much squishy within.

"Kawamura kun, your sushi wasn't a failure. It's just not perfect. It takes time and experience. You still have ample amount of time for that. The best advice I can give you for now is to believe in yourself." He looked at me with his large puppy eyes, waiting for me to explain.

"You said that two important things to you are tennis and sushi-making. You have to eliminate one of them because you want to dedicate your life to the other."

He nodded, "I know you have talent in both, and I don't think there is a need for you to give one up. Giving up something important causes regret. That is something that stays with you for your lifetime, unless you can amend it of course. "I explained.

"My main point is, you're capable of handling both. You're doing that now. If you dedicate your whole life to the sushi shop…" I paused to catch my breath.

"… that's just too much to loose."

At this moment, we arrived at the front gate of my house. Kawamura seemed deep in thought. I didn't want to interrupt him but I was forced to since he kept walking.

"Um…Kawamura-kun, thanks for everything today." He came back to reality and gazed up at my house.

"Wow…" he stammered, "It's huge."

"Not the best house to live in when it's usually empty." I said as I opened up my gate. "Oh and when you have time, I hope you can come over so you can play tennis with Tezuka Kun and me..."

"Tezuka?" he questioned and followed my finger, which pointed at the house next to mine.

"Yup, he lives next to me. He doesn't live in mars you know…" I added, amused how Tezuka's name causes everyone's jaws to drop.

"Thanks for everything Kawamura-Kun and reconsider your future." With a small bow, I took my duffel bag back and disappeared behind my gate.

"Whew, what a long day!" I said, finally relieved to be at home sweet home. My parents weren't home yet, thank goodness. _Today's adventure will be kept a secret, except maybe I'll tell my parents about Kawamura's ideal career._ I headed toward the shower, but stopped at the sink. My throat was tightening up. I coughed to make sure nothing was obstructed in my airway but the cough became continuous and red fluid accompanied them. By the metallic, corroding taste, I detected it as blood. Stomach ulcer? I questioned but couldn't think anymore as I hacked up some more blood.

Meanwhile…

A lone figure was sitting in his room, perfectly still, in fact robotically still with an open history book on his desk. _What was Kawamura doing here?_


	16. Chapter 16: Would you like a flower?

Disclaimer: I will own Prince of tennis!...in my next life

Noo I was suppose to finish updating by 3/11/07 to make it a perfect month but I finished WRITING it at 11:30 PM but typing and reviewing it took long!

Review Replies!!

kenshinroks2111: Glad you liked it )

Lileth Azmaria: I hope this chapter will get you too )

ShadowedSilverMist: Thanks! That's so sweet of you. )

DaydreamerMagby: Hehe you tempt me to do more of those.)

mienne: sorry it took long to update!! But my explanation was posted last chapter.( (That's to symbolize my apology)

LittleAngel22493: Hmm should I be evil or nice? P

Khmer-Angel: Right back at ya! )

White Alchemist Taya & kuro-chan10307: swtjapgrl: Hey Tez!!! Are you jealous?

Tezuka: HMPH!

swtjapgrl: So you are?

Tezuka: Please go away. (Shuts the door)

Swtjapgrl: Mina help me!!

Mina: Tezuka-kun?

Tezuka: (Opens door immediately) Yes, Aizawa san?

swtjapgrl: I see how it is…

alasforgotten32491: you're a sharp reader aren't ya? )

Thanks for reviewing!! I hate to nag but everyone Please review this one too!

O yeah one more announcement! To Anyone who reads Naruto Fanfiction. I just posted my first naruto fic titled Hiashi's mistake. Please read it if you have time :)

Chapter 16: Would you like a flower?

_None of my business anyway. _The 4 eyed boy tore his gaze away from the window. He looked down at his incomplete application for athletes. There were only 2 blanks left: father's signature and insurance policy number. _I guess father's late from work again…_ Lately, Tezuka Kazuma has been coming home late. As any typical housewife, Ayane continued preparing dinner for her husband and left it in the kitchen. Deciding to take a break, Kunimitsu trotted down the stair for a cup of water. Savoring the feeling of the fluid rushing down his throat, he cleared his mind along with it. However, there was a slight gasp from the living room. Tezuka Ayane was folding the freshly done laundry. "Something wrong?" The younger Tezuka softened from the usual expression to express concern. She had been unaware of her son creeping near her. "No, nothing." Being a Tezuka, she was also famous for the calm tone that hid her emotions but her hands weren't fast enough to hide what she was holding. There on her hands were her husband's gray trousers and a pink lacy handkerchief. The stoic boy raised his brow and connected his mother's gasp with the objects down at her hands. "Does this mean…?" he began but was cut off buy his mother. "Kunimitsu, can you help me put these folded clothes in the closets?" Taking this as a sign to be quiet, he nodded and gathered up the clothes that smelled of fabric softener.

Meanwhile…

"Cough…cough…cough…" _Seriously, if this keeps up, my internal organs will come out soon. _I patted my chest to calm the nauseous feeling. The sink was repainted red and my hands were deadly pale. I sighed in disgust but began to dilute the new color with water, "Dingdong"

The door bell rang and I was forced to flood the sink to be rid of the crimson fluid. I wiped my lips free of it but the metallic taste remained, making me shiver. I hurried down the stairs to get the door.

"Dad!" I hugged the man that owned the same eyes as me.

"You're finally home early." I freed him of his work bag and urged him toward the bathroom.

"You must be tired, go take a shower first. Then come eat dinner." But I realized I didn't prepare anything

"Sorry I couldn't cook dinner today…" I paused to invent an excuse but thankfully, he just smiled and patted my head.

"That's ok. Besides, there are so much good leftovers in the fridge. It's not fair that you always cook something for us but you eat the leftovers."

Obediently, he began to head up to the bathroom.

"No," I continued to follow him as I headed toward his room to put down the bag. "The main concern of a chef is appreciation."

After hearing the bathroom door clicked, I was about to head into the kitchen to warm up some food but the door opened again.

"Mina… are you feeling well?" he said hesitantly, "There's some drops of blood here." I heard the male voice announced hesitantly. _Yikes!_ I said inwardly and ran into my room to get the first thing that came to my mind.

"Sorry dad!" I felt myself tremble but covered it up with perkiness.

"I'm sort of on my red boat…" I said holding up a packaged, square cotton as proof.

"I'll clean up really quickly; I'll only take 10 seconds." I literally yanked him out of the bathroom and shut the door.

_Whew that was close._ I exhaled softly. _What a genius am I?_ I smiled sarcastically.

_First I throw up blood until my organs come out and I command dad to take a shower after the reformation? I should have checked first. _I inspected the floor, the sink, the wall and finally satisfied, I threw away the covering of the pad in the trashcan to support my lie. When I headed toward the kitchen, my dad was already there, emptying a bag of dark red substance into the rice cooker.

"Seki-han (Pink rice with red beans)" he said, "I heard it's good for women going through menstrual cycle."

"Er…haha thanks dad." I laughed forcefully. _This is not funny._

In the morning…

"Morning, Tezuka-Kun!" I greeted him with usual enthusiasm. School is starting again but there's a lot to look forward to: charity work, tennis season and maybe…more homework? My neighbor acknowledged my presence with a mere nod and we started to walk.

"Good morning, Tezuka oba chan." I gave a slight bow toward the woman that was tending the plants. She waved back with a smile. Since I used smiles to conceal my emotions also, I figured out right away that Tezuka Ayane was not in the best of the moods.

"Is everything ok at your house?" I said as I petted a dog that was looking up at me from its fence. "I mean, your mom looks troubled a bit…"

_Hmm didn't mother just smile at her now?_ The tall boy gripped harder on his duffel bag.

"Oh by the way, I haven't seen your dad lately…he's working too hard too…" But I regretted instantly when I saw his thin lips pull into a straight line. At the mention of his father, Tezuka's expression seemed soured.

"So that's it isn't it?" I pestered but predictably, Tezuka remained silent.

_This is a definite yes sign._ As I was hypothesizing the cause of the Tezuka depression, I was cut off by Tezuka's mechanical tone.

"This is my family's affair." His voice was like a cold surge that collided with my passionate wonder.

A feeling of rejection gnawed at the heart but I continued, "But Tezuka-Kun, I troubled you and your mom last time when I had a fever. Let me help."

His mask seemed to express a sure No

"And I know the perfect way to confirm a cheating husband," I grinned, "Though I never thought that your father does such things."

Tezuka shrugged, _I don't think so either but what was with the pink handkerchief. And his mother's continuous sighs?_

"So do you give me the permission to proceed with my plan?"

"No…" he began but as a consequence, he was faced a pair of hazel puppy eyes.

"You don't trust me?" I said dramatically. "I'm sure you would want your mom back to her happy state?"

I was ready to bite his ear so he can at least give me a glare. This game of translate the expression was wasting my energy.

"Can I say no?" he sighed. He was ready to hold up a white flag.

_A little more push_. "If you don't trust me, that's ok." I bit my lip "…and you don't feel that this problem is not a big deal…" I was thinking of more heart trending words but there was no need.

"Fine" he glared and began to walk faster. _How did she realize my problem so fast anyway? Oh but then I gave it away with my silence. Was I supposed to lie? No… I don't know how to lie…_ He watched the girl walking next to him from the corner of his eyes. _Innocent face and scheming brain do not go together._

"Then can I have your father's work number?" I asked while taking out a memo book.

"Wait, I didn't give you permission to embarrass him at work." He growled defensively. "Even if I am trying to detect a private affair, I don't intend to embarrass anyone." I said and smirked at his outburst.

"I don't even know if I'm right with such assumption." Tezuka felt like backing out again. "With my 13 years of my life, I can honestly say it is impossible that my father is having an affair."

"But you should confirm…" I braced myself for the final persuasion. "I always admired your family. Compared to my family, your family is traditional, each member plays a vital role. Like a jigsaw puzzle that can't be completed if there is a single piece missing. In my family, it's different. If one member is gone, he/she will be missed but that doesn't mean we can't survive without one another. That's why I want to prevent your family from falling apart."

When I finished, we were pausing from our walk and I was directly looking into his eyes. I was about to blush from how close I was to the cold genius, but I never leave a job incomplete.

"So…will you trust me?" I asked not breaking the eye contact. His final nod seemed to be more confident, which signified my permission.

"So what's his work number? When is his lunch time? Oh and are you free some time this week?"

Sweat dropped from the back of the stoic head. _Just then she was overemotional…now she's demanding. What a bipolar…_The rest of the walk was a complete hell for Tezuka as I continued to probe over his family matters. He was never happier to see my friends approach me. He left quickly to exchange his outside shoes for the inside shoes and headed up class. _Damn it! I wasn't done_. I sighed internally but grinned. _This plan will be fun._

"Mina what's wrong?" Miyuki took notice. "Yeah, you're like experimenting with your face or something." Hitomi copied my frown then my grin.

"Heehee nothing.." I slipped on my inside shoes but took it out quickly when I felt a prick.

"Ouch!" I said examining my shoe. There was a thumbtack glued to the white slip-on

"Bastard! who did such thing?" Kaga said aloud as she grabbed the shoe from me and pried off the thumbtack.

"Eh…let's go. It was just a prick." I said urging my friends to go to class.

"Damn it!" A girl with sheet of raven black hair cursed.

"Hmm too bad the thumbtack didn't penetrate her foot any further" the red head lamented.

"She would have ended up with a cane!" the blond grinned.

"No worries my friends…" the leader said, "There's a lot more to come."

First period was PE…

"Hey Mina, can I have a tissue? I ran out." Kaga was clutching her runny nose.

"Yeah sure! Leave it on my desk when you're done with it." I was going to head toward the field first to warm up. With that, Hitomi followed me out. A certain red head smiled in the corner.

"Kinoshita sensei" she called as she headed toward the front, "Can I go to the bathroom?" "Of course, meet us in the field afterwards," the good natured lady answered, not catching that sinister smirk as the flaming red head strutted towards the bathroom. When she came out from the restroom 10 minutes later, the classroom was already empty. Of course, she was going to the field but not before examining a certain packet of tissues.

After first period…

"I'm really sweaty…" I groaned as picked up my tissue. I felt my nose itch and my skin tingle as I wiped my face with it. Then in a second, I began to sneeze continuously and my face burned. My left hand covered my nose and my right hand desperately pressed against my cheeks.

"What's wrong?" Miyuki ran towards me alarmed.

"That smell…." I breathed out in between my sneezes. "Those tissues have pepper on it." Before I knew it, Miyuki was also sneezing next to me.

"Probability that the tissues contain 3.28 table spoons of pepper, 87." Square framed glasses glinted behind us. Inui snatched the tissues out of my hands threw it away in the trashcan.

Inhaling deeply, I looked at the data master reproachfully. "How come you didn't suffer with us?"

"That amount of pepper is nothing compared to Kawamura's specialty. Do you care to try some? Aizawa san? Andoh san?" I ran and pulled Miyuki along to get away from the sinister smile as fast as possible.

In the hallway…

"That was priceless." The black haired giggled and banged her fist on the wall.

"See? I do these things better than you." The red head wasn't able to hide her smirk. The most popular girl in school is being embarrassed what is not funny about this?

"Anyway guys, get ready, it's my turn." The blond head said. This is competition. She was going to pull a successful prank no matter what.

4th period is chemistry…

"I don't like labs. I could never do the experiments right." Hitomi grumbled as we headed upstairs to the science room

"But isn't it better than listening to Mr.Yamanaka?" I said, "My notes somehow became an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics because the ends of the sentence are usually scribbles."

"Truly his class is a nice period to catch up on sleep. He restates what the book said anyways." Kaga agreed with me.

Miyuki, being the quiet girl she is, just smiled and listened to our grumbles.

In the science room…

"Yes, Hitomi, you're doing great!" I complimented as I watched her stir the concoction safely.

"Aizawa-san and Andoh san can you please help me pass out these notebooks?" Yamanaka sensei asked, or more like commanded.

Oh _that's right…I'm monitor this week and so is Miyuki…_I recalled. I detested leaving my group unattended. By unattended, I mean Hitomi who absolutely hates science and Kaga, who is extremely clumsy. Of course I love them dearly but faults are to be acknowledged, not ignored.

"Er…ok Hitomi add this, I already measured out the amount." I said holding up a small graduated cylinder of acetic anhydride. "After it boils, add this, which is 10 mL of ethanol. We should have crystallized aspirin after this."

Now the fate of our lab grade depended on Kaga and Hitomi. I glanced back time to time to see everything was fine. But when I had about 5 notebooks left to pass out, I heard Kaga's scream. Our solution was bubbling intensely. It was at the point where it was leaking out of the flask and giving rise to smoke. Then I saw three clear bottles, one extra from what I had left them with.

_Pyridine! _My mind put together as I remembered our preparation ingredients. I saw thick foam boiling up in the flask of the nearest group that I stood by, scooped up the foam in a beaker and dumped it up hurriedly into our smoking concoction. Immediately, the boiling content tranquilized.

"Are you okay?" I asked concerned as I turned to my table partners. Kaga was clinging onto my arm and Miyuki was attempting to clean off the mess on the Bunsen burner. "What is going on here?" I looked up to see Mr.Yamanaka glaring down at the spilled gray liquid.

"Pyridine…Sensei." I began nervously as the tall figure caused me to cower.

"Pyridine was not called for in this experiment, explain yourself." Dark eyes bore into mine but Hitomi took the attention away from me.

"Sensei, it is my fault. Mina already gave me the measured chemicals but when I stepped away from the lab table to get a beaker tong, there were three bottles of solutions identical in color and amount." I was proud of her for getting her words through. This instructor is the strictest teacher in this whole school.

"And you, Aizawa-San?" _He just can't let me off the hook. What did I do?_ I looked up nervously, "What were you rushing about when you were suppose to remain composed and calm at all situation and have only the instructor take care of any accidents?" His question sounded ignorant, so I was determined to reason with him.

"When I left my table, I left my lab partners with the two necessary solutions. However, I observed that there were three solutions and realized that it was pyridine since I saw it before the lab started, which catalyzes the reaction between water and acetic anhydride. I added alcohol foam to suppress fire." To my surprise the towering figure smiled.

"And I'm sure Fuji-Kun is there for the same reason?" In the midst of panic I didn't notice that Fuji was merely inches away from my table with a beaker in his hand and Tezuka was about to reach for a fire extinguisher. Fuji gave an elegant nod and Tezuka became the next target.

"And what are you doing there Tezuka-Kun?"

With equal air of dignity, Tezuka's head was held high, "Carbon Dioxide was necessary, Sensei."

Mr. Yamanaka nodded pleasantly, "You three must have studied ahead on your own. I'll give 50 extra points toward your lab grades." I was overjoyed that I didn't notice a small mound of white powder on the floor. Before I was able to utter a scream, I was slowly beginning to skid and was about to kiss the skeleton used for anatomy studies.

"Not so fast…" I felt smooth arms grabbing hold of my arms. The impact twirled me around and my forehead collided with my savior's cheek.

"Are you okay, princess?" A deep blush crept on my cheeks as I locked gaze with a pair of cerulean orbs. Never have I been more embarrassed of my current position as the class roared with laughter and claps of hands.

_Well that totally backfired…_The blonde head sent a nasty glare toward the center of the attention as the red head sent a triumphed smile in her direction.

"Whew." I exhaled as I placed the lab book back on the shelf. _Today is really not my day but off to lunchtime._ I celebrated too soon as a girl with sheet of black hair bumped into me. But this was not a slight bump. It was a tumbling bump. The Shelf was not really a supportive structure either and books were raining down. I landed on my butt and braced myself for a rain of books. But the contact never occurred. I opened my eyes disbelievingly to come in contact with a flaming red cat or more specifically, Kikumaru kun.

"Hoi Hoi Mina Chan, are you okay?" people around us were clapping at the acrobat. "You're amazing!" I complimented. "10 books and you managed to catch them all in a second." I took half of the stack to shelve it back.

"It's a good training nyah, especially if I'm rescuing a princess!" _That's so sweet but if she was a real princess, he should focus on catching the princess, not the books! _I felt a bruise forming on my bottom with a tingling pain.

"Mina…" Kaga sighed exasperated, "We shouldn't let you out of our sight. I think you're being targeted." She narrowed her eyes toward anyone that cast a glance on us. _I wouldn't want to leave either! But then…I have to meet up with Tezuka-Kun. _Realizing that I won't be able to tell my friends the reason to not spend time with them, I was forced to think up of a lie, fast.

"Hey guys," I began, "I won't be able to spend lunch with you guys because…I have to plan with Tezuka kun on what we're going to do for my dad's birthday." I said in one breath.

_There it sounded real and we are planning something for a father…just not mine._ I patted myself on the back but was met with giggles.

"Mina today really isn't your day." Hitomi's voice echoed through the hallway.

"Right, you can't even think up of a reasonable excuse." Kaga finished for Hitomi then whispered, "I see a start of a beautiful relationship."

"Excuse me?!" I demanded horrified. _Did they mean that I what think they mean?_

"If he makes you happy." Miyuki is sweet but this is unnecessary sweetness. "Don't worry we will leave you two all alone."

I scoffed, "Our relationship is as similar as my relationship with my books. They are all helpful and polite indeed…" More giggling continued so I had no choice. "You guys are right. I'm not telling the truth but it involves his family so I rather not say anything about it." My friends nodded understandingly. _I should have done this in the first place. Then they didn't have to tease me! _But my thought was interrupted.

"Have a nice date!" the three echoed but they all froze in a minute when my voice reached their ears.

"Hey which of you want exposure to the acetic anhydride that someone concocted earlier?" I glared.

In the grass field near the lake…

"This will not take long but the main purpose of lunch is to eat." I said as I spread out my lunch.

"Are you sure you won't embarrass him?" Tezuka eyed me sharply while leaning against a tree.

"Sue me if I do." I repeated again, "You just sit here, eat lunch and relax." I beckoned him to sit down and pointed down at my lunch.

"Then can I at least ask what you are going to..." he looked at me hesitantly as I turned on my cell phone and dialed the number. Since I was ignoring him, he had no choice but to start opening up his lunch box. I cleared my throat and attempted to make my voice deeper and matured.

"Hello? IBM Corporation. This is Tezuka Kazuma, how may I help you?" a deep voice sounded on the other line.

_Yeay! Someone actually picks up the phone in the corporation. Well of course, this man carries the name of Tezuka, meaning that he stays in his office at all times including fire, rain and earthquake. So hearing him answer the phone during lunch break is no surprise. _"Hello…I am calling from Yamanaka Flower shop." Here I saw Tezuka drop a piece of sushi from his chopsticks. I sent him a dirty look that warned him not to interfere. "Oh…I'm not interested in purchasing any flowers right now." I heard impatience from Tezuka Kazuma.

_Whew concise and brief. _"Please wait sir," (Tezuka stopped drinking water) "I'm tring to promote my store so I am offering a free order and delivery just for you!"

"Is this a scam?" The wire sent through the response. (Tezuka was trying not to cough up the water he drank.)

"No, no" I answered quickly, "My address is 2535 Minami Doori and the rest is the same as your corporation." _That's because I didn't know it! This was the Boutique's address, Well, it's a white lie, they do sell flowers there._

"Oh…that's not very close to the IBM Corporation." The deep voice was beginning to sound insecure. The younger Tezuka raised his eyebrows as he went to poke my lunch. _She is really bad at directions…_He thought as he began on another piece of eel fried sushi.

"It is in a distance that I am willing to deliver." I said smoothly.

"How did you get this number?" _I can imagine his glasses glinting._

"Random digit-dialing, Sir." _Good thing I learned some statistics. And stop with the questioning! I want to end this clean! _The stoic boy seemed have finished eating and sat close to me to hear the conversation clearly.

"Okay then…I want a Hong Kong wrapped violet roses. Clear wrapped first and tied with opal colored ribbons"

_He knows what he wants _My head clicked, _this may cost quite a few dollars_.

"And the address will be?" I scribbled down the order, "Hmm..3224Yamato Daichi." Tezuka looked at me questioningly. _This is the IBM workplace address. Why not just send it to his recipient? _Tezuka thought as he placed a hand over his full stomach.

"And also we provide special name cards. Your recipient is…?" _This is the moment of truth _Tezuka and I both held our breaths.

"Then put Hayashi Sumire." I felt color drained out of my face and when I looked over, Tezuka was completely rigid.


	17. Chapter 17: What i do for a true smile

Disclaimer: I will own Prince of tennis!...in my next life

Review Replies!!

bLoodY vEngEfUl sOul(Princess): lol awww how sweet. Then I shall call you princess whenever I refer to you from now on  As for three schemers I'll take care of them but don't know if it's anytime soon.

fightingpheonix36: thanks for reading!! I hope you review this chapter too

ShadowedSilverMist: Hmm kill her off or not was what I had been debating so I'm not sure but I don't think it's anytime soon  LoL yea I need to make the three girls more hateful for a heavier impact. Does it bother you that they're anonymous?

annaxu510: Wow that's cool! Does it look like him? If that robot exerts Tezuka's hotness, I will buy him!!!

kenshinroks2111 Yup Tez will find out later on!! Nope he doesn't know now but he's mom does.

kuro-chan10307 I'm so sorry but I have to admit cliffies are so enjoyable 

White Alchemist Taya Yeah sorry it may seem out of character but I thought it might be interesting.

Thanks to other reviewers such as DaydreamerMagby, leafninja95, coreagurl and LittleAngel22493!!

Please continue to support me and other readers out there, please review I love reviews as much as a fat kid loves cake 

Chapter 17: What I will do for a true smile

"Please deliver it by 6PM." The deep voice of Teuka Kazuma continued, oblivious to our frozen positions.

"Yes, sir." I was the first to recover from the trance. "I will repeat your order: a dozen of purple roses, Hong Kong wrapped with clear wrap, with name card Hayashi Sumire and deliver it to…" I let my mouth do the talking and let my eyes fall upon Tezuka. It was similar to watching a lion cub at the zoo. As fearless and as stoic it may seem, lion cubs feel insecure for being stared at behind the bars. Tezuka was gazing at the grass field, his eyebrows furrowed and his hands were shaking slightly in his lap.

"Ok this should do it, thank you for your time," I ended the conversation as short and real as possible. I was ready to slam the hang up button without waiting for his response. _Are you okay?_ were the words that came to my mind as I looked at my devastated classmate but I shook it off. _Of course he's not ok. Such question sounds redundant._

"Hayashi Sumire, did you ever hear of her name?" I sat on the down next to him.

"…"

"Maybe she's your relative?"

"…"

"Your father's old friend?" _more like high school sweetheart?_

"…" I was ready to give a sigh or shake him violently then another idea hit me.

"Want to go on a date with me?"

"…"

"I take that as a yes."

"Aizawa san now is not the time..." I grinned _he finally gave me_ a_n answer_. "On our date, I'll wait for you at…" I looked down at my memo.

He looked up suddenly, his glasses almost falling off in the process. "The answer is already given. There is no need to trifle with my father's personal life." He threw a rock in the bond, it skipped 3 times.

"But what if he wants to give the flowers to this Hayashi-san because of business alliance persuasion?" I said looking up hopefully.

"…"

"Or it's someone that has been ill for awhile and she recovered." _Not everyone's ill like you Mina_. My subconscious mind reminded. The 4eyed genius ignored my words and threw another rock, it skipped twice only.

"Like I've already said, this is my family matter, there's no need for you to be concerned." A twinge of pain jabbed my heart but I stood up and caught Tezuka's arm as he was about to throw another rock in the pond.

"Fine then if I throw this rock," I snatched the pebble from his loose grip. "And it skips more than 3 times, you'll listen to me." I threw it with all my might. However, the rock just sank to the sediment below.

I snarled, "Wait, I didn't have a good angle." Another rock left my grip but no luck with it either.

"Throw it like you're about to hit a forehand," he commanded as I reached for another pebble. _Forehand?_ I threw it hesitantly but the result wasn't bad, it skipped 3 times, one skip short of what I needed though. I gave a huge sigh and at the corner of my eyes, I can see Tezuka's side of the mouth lifting to form a smirk.

_Does she really care? Or is she just plain nosy?_ He wondered as the frail girl in front of him threw a pebble on the ground angrily.

"Why do you try so hard to convince me when it doesn't even concern you?" he calmly questioned.

"I can't wait to see who your father's going out with!" _So it may be the latter, she's nosy…_sweat dropped from the back of his honey brown head.

"But also because I really want to see your mother's true smile." I added sheepishly.

_But she also cares_ he added boring his gaze into he girl standing beside him.

"I think I've invaded enough personal space today. Some issues are better left untouched." He said folding his arms together. I admired his bittersweet kindness. No matter if the situation he found himself in was detestable; his love for his father prevented him from taking any action that will hurt his father.

However, I saw doubt in his eyes and I didn't hesitate to take advantage of it. "So, I take that as a yes you'll follow my plan so keep the rest of the afternoon free please!"

Not waiting for the fragments of reprimands, nor a change in his expression, I hopped up and speeded to my classroom. For the rest of the day, I avoided the stoic boy the best I can. He tried countless times to make eye contact with me during lectures but I ignored it, when I was heading toward music class, he followed but I rushed into the girl's bathroom. Finally annoyed, Tezuka gave me ice cold glared as I sat with the group of freshmen boys during tennis practice.

"What's wrong with Tezuka?" Kawamura asked timidly as he quickly turned away from the frozen expression.

"I feel like he's directing his expression at you, Mina Chan." Fuji smiled as he offered me wasabi flavored chips. Sweat dropped down the back of my head as I was astonished how he interpreted Tezuka's expression so correctly and fought back the urge to sneeze from the pungent smell of the green contents. The chips matched the bag itself, each piece was dark green, no spot of yellow potato can be discovered and the bag had a picture of a dinosaur breathing out fire.

"Doesn't he always look like that?" Kikumaru bounced toward us and took a chip from the open bag. Big mistake…in a second he cart wheeled away from us toward the water fountain, mewing away like a wounded cat with Oishi trailing after him.

"So Tezuka's eyebrow arches 0.0032 millimeter higher when he is upset…ii data." The data genius scribbled away. In a way, I felt it was cold of the boys to leave their respectable friend sulking but I found it admirable that they know when to give each other space when they need it. I had no problem evading Tezuka's glare once practice started since Captain Yamato told him to pair up with a junior to play doubles.

"We should not do this." He persuaded once again when he was finally able to talk to me alone after practice, "Maybe you're right, she might be a relative."

Waiting for my response for 2 minutes was too long for the now impatient Tezuka. I smiled at him as he threw another dagger at me with his eyes.

"Do you think we're just playing here?" he growled low and dangerously as he snatched the earphones out of my ears. "This is my family's bond you're having fun with!" "Having fun comes with a price, so I'll pay for it if I need to." I said calmly as I inserted the ear phones in my ear once again.

"Do you think this will be something as simple as patching up a ripped shirt?' His emotions were drained into that statement. He didn't want to know. He didn't want to confirm if his father was truly in a secret affair. He wanted to just turn the other cheek and pretend everything is fine. For a moment, his iron mask seemed to have shattered and I was confronted with a face that was expressed worry and anxiety, it was as though I opened Pandora's box. Even if fragment of me tugged at me to stop what I was planning, my conscience stopped me. There is no use in closing your eyes from reality; there is no use in running away from a problem. The solution is bound to be found only when your eyes are open, just like when my mom decided to find a bone marrow donor outside of Japan. I painfully removed my gaze away from the honey brown head whose eyes were still eyeing the ground. In a distance, I spotted a red head; a very familiar red head…then an idea came to me. Grabbing my water bottle, I emptied all the clear fluid from the honey brown head to unfortunately, the white shorts. Before my drenched neighbor can bite my head off, I covered his mouth and dragged him toward the red head,

"Oh no! Tezuka-kun I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed as I dragged Tezuka past the red headed acrobat.

"Nya?" Mina Chan? Tezuka?" He questioned as he landed form his somersault.

"Oh Kikumaru kun!" I said scrunched up my face as much as possible to look anxious. "I'm so clumsy!" I tripped on a rock while I was drinking water and poured all the water on Tezuka kun!!" I said in one breath.

The panicked feeling I was trying to drain into the statement made my voice high pitched, "Do you happen to have extra clothes with you? I'm afraid Tezuka Kun will catch a cold!" I was almost in a state of hyperventilation; high pitched voice takes a lot of energy. Confusion and anger was running through Tezuka's head as he watched the innocent looking girl in front of him. His hair was dripping with water continuously. After all, she spilled 1 liter of water on him, And the worst part is, he wore white shorts today! He was practically a well polished window to the public. It's a good thing his A-shirt prevented the wet Seigaku poloshirt to enhance the shaped of his upper body. Kikumaru fought back a snicker as he turned his gaze from his fuming teammate to his trembling classmate.

"Nya…Tezuka don't get mad! Get glad!" the red head landed beside his teammate.

_Get even was more like it… _Tezuka muttered in his mind.

"My house is right there, you can borrow my clothes. The ones in my duffel bag are dirty." The acrobatic said with a bright grin and started to push the grumpy Tezuka toward the direction he pointed out. I continued to apologize to Tezuka, praying that he won't open his mouth to question me and thanked the catlike boy repeatedly. Subconsciously, I was excited more than ever. _Everything goes according to plan_.

"I think this will do. " I said rummaging through Kikumaru's disorganized closet. It looked like tornado has swept by but I managed to find decent clothes for Tezuka, very decent actually. Tezuka's eyebrow quirked up in horror when he saw what I was holding: a bright yellow t-shirt with a very cuddly looking brown cat print with its claws lashing out. The text read "Me---Ow!!"

"You have good taste Mina Chan. That was my favorite shirt in 6th grade." Kikumaru clapped as I smiled triumphantly.

Who gave her the permission to rummage through Kikumaru's closet, Tezuka didn't know but he never gave her permission to let him pick out what he should wear, even his mother didn't do that anymore. Let him be damned if he was to wear that thing. He nodded to himself but he was being pushed into the bathroom by a petite ivory arm and a larger, hairy arm. Before he could resist, I threw the yellow t-shirt and a khaki shorts I found in the corner of the closet and shut the door.

"Tezuka-Kun, please hurry or you won't get to the library in time to return that book that will be overdue tomorrow." I said tauntingly.

"Ooh! Tezuka! You better hurry!" He could hear his teammate chiming in. Damn that Kikumaru. He should have known that innocent looking girl is far from innocent. Since when did Tezuka wait until the last day to return a library book? Doesn't he remember that Tezuka Kunimitsu returns library books at least a week before it is due? He just finished a group project with him too! Besides if Kikumaru can think more, the bottle that Mina was holding had a slender neck, it is impossible to spill all of its content on him before he evades. In addition, how can she spill it on his head if he was taller than her by half a head? Gritting his teeth to the point where it was possible to grind it, he roughly opened the door.

"Tezuka you look cute!" Kikumaru squealed.

"Would you mind if …" but the hazel eyes didn't get to finish as the acrobat grabbed the plain gray t-shirt that Tezuka wanted to change into.

"No! Mina-Chan spent so much time looking for an outfit for you. Besides, you look just like me!" Eiji nodded approvingly.

_Is that supposed to be a complement?_ Tezuka felt he was at his breaking point. Damn that Aizawa Mina. She better have a reason for all this.

"Where is Aizawa-San?" Like buchou would say, she would deserve 100 laps.

"She's downstairs with my mom nyah. They're arranging flowers!" Sure enough, I was downstairs with Mrs. Kikumaru, watching her arrange flowers.

_That devil…her expression sure changes quick_…Tezuka was ready to go lecture her if Mrs. Kikumaru wasn't with her.

I heard a feint clearing of the throat to come faced with an ambush made over Tezuka. "You're so cute!" I couldn't help but squeal.

His adolescent face formed the rebellious nature instead of the usual sophisticated and mature look.

Tezuka raised his eyebrows in anger, causing Eiji, Mrs. Kikumaru and I to say "Awww…." But I snapped back to reality as I saw the clock hit 5:30.

"Thank You for teaching me, oba-san" I bowed. "My first successful pot of arranged flowers will be for you."

"You're so sweet Mina Chan" The elder Kikumaru said as Tezuka sneered. "Come over any time."

"Mom finally found someone that will arrange flowers with her." Eiji snickered. "In this family, nee-chan tachi runs away whenever she tries to get them to start."

"Mina Chan said her mom loves flowers and she wants to arrange it for her. Isn't that sweet? I wish my daughters were like that…or my son" she directed her gaze at her son. _So… everybody lovers her huh?_ Tezuka mocked. _Wait till she gets to the core_.

"Here's your backpack." I said coming down the stairs and flinging his bag at Tezuka. "Thank you so much Kikumaru kun and oba san."

"So what is this all for?" Tezuka finally questioned in his baritone voice after I shoved him out the door.

"Can't you tell?" I grinned, picking up my pace. "To follow your dad, you need to wear something out of character so that no one will recognize you. I will add the final touch when I get to your house. I was hoping Kikumaru kun will let you borrow something out of his duffel back but I didn't know his house was nearby. Luck is with me today" I hummed happily.

"You really are deceitful." Tezuka concluded. I could feel him boring his gaze on my back. In a way, his words stung.

"I'm honored," I replied with a fake smile.

At Tezuka's house…

"Ah…Mina Chan, how are you?" Tezuka Ayane greeted me once her son opened the door wide enough for me to get in.

"Fine, thank you oba-san. You look gorgeous today. Are you going out on a date?" I held back a hollow laugh. _Double affair?_

"No, just a high school reunion. I have to be off now. Enjoy your stay. Kunimitsu, dinner's in the fridge. Mina-Chan stay for dinner ok?" I gave a slight nod of thanks and after I heard the door click, I rushed Tezuka to the bathroom.

After awhile…

"Is this truly necessary?" he questioned, silently cursing me.

"Yes" I said, my hands sticky from hair gel. "Don't worry you'll only get like one or two pimples from this."

_Ten is more accurate._ Tezuka flinched as he saw me add a handful of gel to spike up his hair.

"Plus, you already humiliated yourself this far." I shrugged and pointed to his outfit. "It's a shame to start something and not finish it." _Oh what joy, I feel a bundle of daggers stabbing me._

"Then what are you going to wear?" he questioned, hoping it will be something even more humiliating or _I'll just choose for her_.

"You'll see." I smiled as I molded his strand of hair into a thorn.

"Oh yea Tezuka kun" I called from the sink.

"Hm…?" Tezuka gaped at his reflection.

"Pay me $65" I said, stretching a hand out.

"Why?" _Don't say for working this plan out._

"The flowers. Don't complain. I'm paying half here."

"Why is it so expensive?"

"Don't ask me. Ask your father."

_There goes my saving for a month_. Tezuka sulked.

"Hey, hey, don't sulk. I'm going to ask you to buy it for my birthday so get used to it." I said, clapping him on the back.

After awhile...

"You really are deceitful." He gave a sigh as I put on the red baseball cap.

"It's addicting." I smiled as I tied the apron around my waist that was printed **Boutique…find the perfect gift for your loved ones.**

Flashback

"Mina Chan your order is done. I thought you wanted it to be delivered to 3224Yamato Daichi?" the cash registrar called from the counter.

"Matsui san, my school requires a community service report. Do you think I can deliver this myself? I'm really bad at directions and I haven't really lived here long enough to know my way around..."

End of flashback

_And that is how she ended up using their boutique uniform._ Tezuka gave a huge sigh as I was putting on sunglasses. _I can't believe people fall for her tricks_. _She knows more people than I do in the city and she has been here for 6months. I bet she knows which stores are which with her eyes closed._

"Excuse me, miss," I declared as a secretary in the lobby greeted me. "I would like to deliver this to Mr. Tezuka Kazuma."

"Which department is he in?" the secretary inquired as she flipped through the directories.

_Great…I don't know_. I looked over at the boy next to me.

"Department of technological industries." He responded nonchalantly while he ignored the questioning look the secretary gave him.

It was a good thing I made him take off his glasses. Even without it, the stoic look in his eye can make a small connection with Tezuka Kazuma.

"Oh yes, Mr, Tezuka Kazuma on the 6th floor room 608. I shall have it sent up in a minute. Thank You." The secretary attempted to grab the flowers out of my hands but I retreated, out of her reach.

"I'm sorry, miss but I have been informed that I have to take it directly up to him."

_Yeah right like that works_, both Tezuka and I were crossing our fingers and toes.

"Oh and then I'll give him a call, please hold on." My knuckles were turning g white from crossing my fingers. _Please let me pass, I need to follow oji-san or find a clue on where he will go!_

"Oh…yes sir, Let her pass?" She gave me a nod of approval but she stopped Tezuka when he attempted to follow.

_Think of something quick!_ "He needs to go to the restroom." I said confidently.

Tezuka felt never more humiliated. First he's wearing funky clothes, now, he's being treated as a kid that is not potty trained? Before the secretary can say an answer, I pulled the grumpy boy toward the elevator.

"Thank you" Tezuka Kazuma said when I reached my final destination. "Sir, please sign here." I took out the receipt.

"Oh, by the way, I called an hour ago for an additional message card but they said my order was never made," sweat dotted on my forehead.

"I'm sorry sir, your order must have been misplaced, as I am in charge of delivery, I do not have further information." He nodded and excused me.

"Any clues?" caramel eyes confronted me as I shut the door.

I shook my head, "Only business cards and papers on the desk." I was about to continue the description of the room until bony dried hands covered my mouth.

"Hello…yes…" the deep voice protruded from the room. "Yes, I made reservation at 7PM at Al Formatio, yes for two... thank you…"

"What are you two doing here?" a security was standing there with a bat on his right hand.

"I'm sorry sir, I just tripped and this boy was helping me get up." _I'm getting good at this unfortunately._

"Well, please leave after you are finished with your business there," the security said swinging the bat. I nodded and bolted toward the elevator.

"Al Formatio…that's an expensive place…" Tezuka muttered. "If he's going there, the guest must be someone important."

Back at Tezuka's house…

"Do you know the number? I need to make a reservation for us." I said as I rushed to the phone. "We can't find out why he's meeting her if we stay outside."

"We can't hear them if we're two tables away either." He responded automatically as he took out a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Leave it to me…" Now Tezuka didn't like the sound of that.

"Hurry please, Tezuka kun. We only have like 30 more minutes."

"Are you sure…" he began but I cut him off,

"We came this far, your persuasion won't work." I felt rude but I was running out of time.

Our frustration ended when I saw a golden colored business card with green texts titled "Al Formatio."

"Eureka!" I smiled as I speedily punched in the numbers. "Hello, I made a reservation under the name Tezuka Kazuma."

_What is she doing now_, Tezuka gave up arguing but kept an ear on alert.

"I would like to add a separate table for two yes uh huh. Just next to the other table is fine."

_Next to?_ _What if my father recognizes us?_ He moved toward me but I put a finger to his lips to prevent him talking. And I ended the conversation as fast as possible.

"What if they see us?" Tezuka demanded.

"They won't recognize us." I said as I stifled a yawn. I was getting tired of his arguments.

"What if they do?"

"Then oh well…" I shrugged.

This wasn't reassuring, Tezuka dreaded.

"Oh Tezuka Kun can you call a cab for us? I need to go change."

"Oh then can I change out of this too?"

"No" I said as I grinned devilishly.

"Why?!"

"I can look like a mom taking a child in to a restaurant but delivery girl on duty does not go into restaurants. Besides, that hair took a lot of work Tezuka kun!"

Sulking, Tezuka strutted to the phone while I hurried toward my house. Opening my mom's closet, I took out a light fur jacket, a brown v-neck outlined with lace and black slacks. The clothes were too large on me but I had no time to look through everything so I stapled my slacks to prevent me dragging it. Now for the make-up...

At Tezuka's house…

"…" Tezuka couldn't help but gape.

"Do I look my age?" I had to laugh at his stony rigidity.

_Besides her smooth skin, she looks just like her mom: brown drawn eyebrows and peach colored eye shadow._

"But what if my father recognizes your mom's face?" Now he got me there.

"Oh…Then I'll turn the other way." _She never learns_, Tezuka shook his head skeptically.

"Um…anyway here's the cab." I rushed out, taking the business card of "Al Formatio"

After getting off the taxi…

_There goes two months worth of savings…_face scrunched up similar to a pug, Tezuka was shoving the change back into his pocket.

"Going in means we have to order right?" he asked aloud hesitantly

"Just order a drink, we have to concentrate rather than eat." I said marking off an item on the list.

"You're really enjoying yourself aren't you?" Dark hazel eyes were gleaming from the dark tension.

"Exciting yes," I said crossing off another item. "But I wouldn't call this fun. I have to think of the consequences if I find flaws in the plan." _Why does she even bother doing these things??_

"Hello miss. I have a reservation at 7 under Tezuka Kazuma. By the way is he here already?" I questioned once I entered

"Over here please. No he has not arrived yet. Here is the separate table that was added." Before she left, she gave a funny look at Tezuka. I could see he's face was burining up in blue flames.

Luckily, the two tables were separated by a bush (or more like potted plants.) Menus were passed out to us and the prices were not favorable.

"Eh…one drink costs $8?" I questioned my supposed son.

"Let's hope seeing can be deceiving at this moment." He agreed.

"Vay ai tek ur ordah?(May I take your order?)" an Italian looking man with high nose and blonde hair asked with a heavy accent.

"Ice cappuccino please." I said automatically, "Oh wait, sorry it's cold outside so hot cappuccino instead please."

"And you, boku? (little boy)"

"Black coffee please." The waiter looked surprised that such a little boy had a mature voice and preferred to drink bitter black coffee. He thought the boy would ask for a banana split sundae at least.

"Are you sure Kuni Chan?" I teased. "I thought you told me you wanted the hurricane crashed mountain high mud pie. You can ask for a cherry on the top, sweety" I continued, ignoring the killing intent from the other side of the table.

"Yeah let's do that. Just one of that please and hot cappuccino thank you." I ordered not waiting for a response.

"Wud du lik da shary on dop?(Would you like the cherry on top?)" he smiled with a bright grin.

"Yes please!" I agreed enthusiastically.

_Can this humiliation get any worse?_ Tezuka couldn't help but carry his head.

"Ah…dur lookie tu hab e hays mum ey?(Your lucky you have a nice mom ey?)" and loud hahas were heard as the waiter and I laughed.

"Du hab tu apeeciate hur moor.(You have to appreciate her more)" The waiter said clapping Tez's back. I was amused more than ever.

"Eni vein korses?(Any main courses?)" he continued.

"No thank you, we're just in a mood for refreshments." _Yea right, my stomach is going to growl. _

The waiter bowed away and it was time for me to suffer the stoic genius's wrath. "What was that for? My pride has gone down the drain." Tezuka roared

"Ah.. Don't be mad Kuni Chan I wanted to try it. It sounded interesting." I smiled my best smile. "Just share with me. You can drink some of my cappuccino if you want." The honey browned eyebrows arched higher than ever but suddenly his gaze fell on the table next to us.

"He's here." He whispered hoarsely. Sure enough, Tezuka Kazuma arrived looking tired than ever but nonetheless sophisticated with his black suits and lavender dress shirt.

"Over here please." I heard the waitress asserting.

"That's not who we really want to see though," I whispered behind the bush as Tezuka pulled his chair next to me.

"Tell me when she gets here." I said as I flipped through the dessert menu. The pizookie looked good also. I heard a low gasp from the right side of my ear and turned my head toward a space between the bushes.

"Oh no!" I muttered under my breath as I saw the approaching woman.


	18. Chapter 18: What is trust?

Disclaimer: If I owned Prince of Tennis, most of the guys would have found girl friends by now.

I'm very very VERY sorry this took longer than one month!! Prom and Grad Night got me!! Any ways…

Review Replies!

blackorchid143: Yes. Tezuka is in his freshy year. Yeah when I said 13 years old in the first chapter, lot of people didn't notice that he was in his first year. I should rewrite that. Thanks for loving my story!!

Yuki♥Zero: Yup those girls sure are PMSing aren't they? By the way how do you do the hearts in your Name thing?

I LOVE Jason: LoL in Japanese, Yakimochi literally means heated rice cake. But it is also a synonym for jealousy. I wanted to say that Tezuka was becoming jealous in that chapter.

JuniperScaymoore: Sorry! Since I'm not a native speaker, I make a lot of grammar errors. If this gets to the point that it interferes with your joy of reading this fanfic, can you recommend me to a beta??

ShadowedSilverMist: Hehe I'm so sorry for the cliffies!!

kuro-chan10307: AHH! Don't hurt me!! Pretty please?

fightingpheonix36: Glad you're loving my oc!!

White Alchemist Taya: Thanks for always being a loyal reviewer

Final Flare: Yeay someone that agrees with me that the boys in POT needs girlfriends!

leafninja95: Come on stay alive!! The climax is to come yet!!

Kone: Yeah sorry. My grammar is pretty bad. Recommend me to a beta if you think I need one please?

Tifffy: Thanks! Yup Fuji is so smexy.

ahgwa: Aww yeah that's one possibility. But I think stoic, cold guys are hot!! Yes I'm weird…

coreagurl: You're about to find out who it is in 3…2…1…

Thanks to all reviewers such as LittleAngel22493! Please continue to support me!!

Yeay summer is here! Time to bust out my fanfiction skills!! (Yeah right, like I have any…) So everyone, please read. I'll love you guys forever.

Chapter 18: What is trust?

"Oh No!" I froze as I saw the approaching woman. Tezuka Ayane has just entered the restaurant.

"If you mom sees that your dad's cheating on her, your family is done for!" I whispered but there was no need for me to interpret the situation as I watched Tezuka's face color drain from peach color to ashen gray.

"Go distract her!" I urged Tezuka but he was petrified. It was time for another act.

I reached into my purse and took out a memo book, sunglasses and a pen. I hurried toward the middle aged woman and applied the sunglasses. Just as she checked in with receptionist, I approached her.

"Hello Miss. I am a representative from Sephorah, may I take a few minute of your time? I see that the foundation you use gives your skin a natural glow, not to mention it conceals your pores and wrinkles." At the corner of my eyes, I was hoping Tezuka Kazuma would see his wife and get out of the restaurant as soon as possible.

"Oh..umm.." the female Tezuka hesitated as she waved away the waiter that was trying to show her to the table.

"It will be very helpful for us f you can take a minute for our survey so that we may improve our products further on." I felt relived when Tezuka Kazuma turned his head toward us. However, when Ayane caught sight of her husband, she immediately brushed me off.

"I'm sorry I do not have the time right now.' I was shocked when Kazuma waved at his wife and gave her a peck on the hand when she reached his table. I took a longer route to get back to my table to prevent being seen by Ayane.

"What's going on here?" I questioned as Tezuka's gray face was zombinized with widened eyes.

"Tezuka Kun?" I waved my hand in front of his eyes.

No response.

"Tezuka Kun?" I poked his flat belly but pulled back immediately.

_Wow his 6-pack hurts my nails. _

"I've been expecting you, Sumire."

_Huh?_ Both of us exchanged bewildered glances.

"When some 'Secret Admire' sent me a Hong Kong wrapped purple roses and a card addressed to Hayashi Sumire, I knew it was you right away." She smiled warmly. "Besides the car you sent gave it away. The black BMW has the license plate IBM Tec. Industries." The male shrugged, disappointed that his secret admirer plan was a failure. "Sumire…you were the only one that used that nickname."

_Nickname?_ _Great…_I snarled at my companion.

"How come you didn't know?" Like his father, Tezuka shrugged, more interested in his parents.

"When I saw you the first time in the elementary entry ceremony, you were the only one dressed in sumire(lavender) color. And everyday after that you clipped your hair in half with a lavender flower pin. He coughed out as though embarrassed that he was reciting sweet memories.

_Guys just can't stand to be emotional._ I snickered.

"My…you've paid more attention to me than I gave you credit for," Ayane laughed lightheartedly.

Seeing Ayane smile, her husband shyly looked down and mumbled, "And you always smiled with that smile that I thought of even on my busiest days."

"Ooh romantic and manly" I nodded in approval while Tezuka muttered an hmph, not too happy that his father was so corny.

"We've been married for about 20 years already. I feel so old." Ayane sighed, "I didn't know you still carry that handkerchief with you. That was what reminded me of my age." "Well you did tell me that it was supposed to serve as my good luck charm…" Her husband declared sheepishly taking out a lacy handkerchief.

_That handkerchief!_ Tezuka remembered it's the same one he saw that night.

"Here's your cappuccino ma'am" I muttered a thanks and was about to sip my steaming cappuccino but my phone vibrated.

"Er..it's my mom." I hastely got up, leaving Tezuka to eavesdrop on his parents some more. "yes mom…uh huh…yes…no" I was annoyed with the endless questioning. _I'm missing out on the juicy conversation! _

When I got back, Tezuka was sitting calmly, relieved that his parents weren't in a secret affairs and the Italian waiter was just placing the mountain high mud pie. Overjoyed, I quickly sat down and gulped down the cappuccino before the stoic boy was able to grab my arm.

"Ahh!" I screamed but the ear piercing scream was short lived when Tezuka scooped a mouthful of ice cream and shoved it in my mouth.

"Du vanted wot kappa chino no?" you wanted how cappuccino no?"

"Hehe yup it tastes better when I gulp down with ice cream." I said biting down the pain I felt on my tongue. And loud hahas were heard as the waiter laughed and I smiled painfully.

"Oh by the way, would do you like me to join the tables together?" I was too busy cooling down my tongue to interpret his question

By the time I came to my senses, the waiter already approached the table left of us. "Mr. Tezuka and Mrs. Tezuka your guests have already arrived."

"Guests?" I heard the deep voice said.

"Shall we run?" I asked the youngest Tezuka.

"They're going to see us when we try to…" Before I could finish consulting Tezuka, the mature version of him was face to face with us.

"Sayuri-san?" He questioned.

I sighed internally in relief. However, a female's sixth sense can never be deceived. "Anata, look closely." His wife gave us a penetrating glance. "I'm assuming she is Mina-Chan and that boy must be out son."

The waiter seemed to have received the message and walked away, though slowly, curious to hear more.

"Explain" She said as she took a seat beside me.

_Great…her gaze is boring through my head_

Possible answer was I'm having dinner with her son but why are Tezuka and I dressed in such array? And why is our reservation under the name of Tezuka Kazuma? I didn't have any more time to pry into my brain. Truth was the only way out.

"Um…this is a long story." _What a great start._

"That's fine." She answered back. Her voice expressed anger nor force filled the voice, it was just monotonous.

"Um…it started the day when I saw you out in the garden…"And Tezuka gaze blood line limit was so powerful that I wasn't able to leave out any detail.

"Foolish…that's all I can say."

_One big lecture coming up,_ I predicted. "I knew what I did is interfering with your privacy but I wanted to help because I thought I was doing this for you sake and because your family is my ideal family." I was in no position to defend my position, it's similar to a check-mate stage.

"What can I do as my consequence?" I said, trying to evade the middle aged woman's gaze.

"Well…" She glanced at her husband. "Since you both paid for these flowers…we'll let you go. I'm sure this bouquet was at lest $120"

"130.67"His son piped up.

"Good" his father smirked, pressing down his son's head affectionately.

"But Mina-Chan…such adorable girl shouldn't be capable of such deceit." The motherly voice asserted as she scooped a spoonful of hurricane crashed dessert.

The name truly fitted the item. It was as though a real hurricane rushed through the dessert since the ice cream was already melted and mingling with the cookie crust. I gave a slight pout and Ayane couldn't go further than a small flick on the forehead.

_Hehe…all Tezukas are soft also_. But they're also merciless as well. The total bill was on Tezuka and I which cost 80.52.

_I'm truly broke…_I was wondering if I should walk home or not until Ayane pushed me into the Black Benz.

"You're not done with your consequences yet." She whispered and I saw Mr. Tezuka smirk in the front. I exchanged worried glances with the 4 eyed genius but apparently, he didn't know his parent's idea either.

"…Tennis court?" I mouthed when we finally parked in the parking lot.

"Time to spank your butts, children," Ayane cried cheerfully as she took out the huge duffel bags from the trunk.

_Spank who?_ I grinned at Kunimitsu while he smirked back.

"Ready?" Tezuka Kazuma inquired deeply as he positioned to serve. Unfortunately, I was the only one not in the right attire. I had to fold up my slacks and I was using a racket with a grip that was too big in width, my hand barely wrapped around it and the length was too long. This gave me a longer reach, but instead the racket was hard to control. And worst of all, the strings weren't strung at the right tension.

"Don't think too much..." Tezuka sensed my worry when I kept swinging into midair. "Their old hips give us advantage any ways."

Smiling in agreement, I nodded at the eldest Tezuka to receive his serve.

"0-0 Love-all self judge line calls. First serve." The serve was fast but fast serves can be blocked easily as long as the racket is in the right spot. I calculated the angle of reflection.

_Perfect_! But I was proved wrong when it bounced and whirled out to the side, creating a 135 degrees angle.

"eh..?" _That's a lot of spin for a slice serve_.

Tezuka gave me a shrug as though to say _watch my perfect return_.

_Brat…_I held back a laugh with a slight cough when Tezuka was able to hit the ball but failed to reach the opponent's court when it was caught in the net.

"Children, I'm getting bored here…" Ayane mocked while her husband smirked broadly. "Hmph" Tezuka and I both glared.

_Time to crack their backs!_ We both said in our minds. The second serve came but I was already aware of the amount of spin placed on the ball. With as much top spin as I can muster, I hit it back to the next court. Since my return was late, the return went down the line. Ayane failed to reach the shot. Score I grinned but my grin disappeared when Ayane screamed "Switch!" and instantly, Kazuma was positioning for a backhand. Tezuka ran up hoping to hit an approach shot. I ran to the other side to cover the empty court. Since there was a lot of top spin on the ball, his return created a lob. I ran to the center of the court.

"Crash!" it wasn't the impact of the smash. It was the onomatopoeia of me and Tezuka colliding.

"Ow… didn't you see me trying to smash it?" I questioned as I rubbed my head.

"Like wise…" he stood up slowly. "Forehand takes it right?" I inquired.

"Yes" he said deeply.

"Then it was my shot!" I hissed.

"That was also my forehand."

I narrowed my eyes but notice he was holding his racket in his left hand, _that's right he is a left-handed, great_.

"Ah…most singles players are not this bad at playing doubles right?" Mr.Tezuka inquired his wife loudly.

"Actually, singles players paired up together are usually the best combinations since their speed gives them the advantage." Ayane answered.

Tezuka and I grinded our teeth together as we switched courts.

"Any strategies?" I questioned, my competitive nature kicking in.

"Just be ourselves," my partner declared, carelessly pushing up his glasses. "If we want to win, we can't try anything foreign that requires practice. Let's just be aware of each other's movements."

Agreeing with his opinion, I positioned myself to serve. I must use the slice serve since I didn't want to hit anyone in the face. After all, I am trying to pay them for the debt I owe for lying. My slice serves were a hit! Straight Aces led to 1-1 on the set score. Although I expected Tezuka to ace his parents at the speed of his serves, this never happened. Of course, his parents were the one to teach him the speedy flat serves so they are used to Tezuka's speed. So the game ended with 4-6 mainly due to Kunimitsu and my teamwork. I can assure anyone that from this game, I gained about 3 bruises on my head and couples of scratches from his racket and my legs were exhausted from trying to cover him when needed.

"6-4 Game!" Ayane cheered happily as she raised up her water bottle. "Hmm I always thought I'm out of shape but I guess youngsters these days are even more so…" her husband nodded while he drank his water deeply. Tezuka and I were just too tired and said nothing as we remained in our position of sitting back to back.

"Tezuka kun, you smell." I said as mixture of BO and hair gel smell wafted toward my nose.

"And you're drenched in sweat…" He said as he threw me his towel. Peeling off the pungent towel off my head, I threw it back to him.

"We're horrible aren't we?"

"Just with doubles" he said as he caught the towel with a lazy move of an arm. "After all, you're able to cover the court and I'm able to volley from side to side."

"Then how did we lose?" I cried combing my hair with my fingers. It sure was wet from the roots to the tips

"Teamwork, children." Deep voice came above us. "You don't seem to trust each other." The eldest Tezuka continued as he packed his duffel bag. "Mina-Chan, you don't seem to believe that Kunimitsu will be able to volley, that's why sometimes you're right behind him so you can get the ball if he misses."

"Yes, leaving the rest of the court open." Ayane joined, "Usually you can get away with such strategy if you play against teams that cannot rally well. When the rally goes on for a short time that's when you have the stamina to run side to side. But with us, your energy will run out fast."

"Trust is the key" Kazuma concluded "Teamwork is necessary in doubles."

_Wow, they are synchronized_, oblivious that we are also synchronizing such thoughts ourselves as we leaned back toward each other for support.

On the ride back…

Tezuka Kunimitsu felt his side of his seat being invaded by a silky head. He made an effort to push her back but once he let his hand go, the weight returned to crush his left shoulder, hammering it down. Reluctantly, he unbuckled the seat belt of the person next to him and lay her down gently on his lap.

"She's asleep?" Ayane smiled as the turned around.

"I'm not surprised, her brain cells worked overtime today." The driver gave a small laugh.

"I'm curious…" the female Tezuka started, "I though you wouldn't support such a plan, Kuni-Chan"

"You really didn't have any trust in me?" his father questioned, disappointment apparent in his voice.

"Eh.." the backseat occupant began, gripping on the being in his lap tighter both for support for what he was going to say and because her body was threatening to fall of the seat due to a wide turn.

"I was more confused than anything." His Hazel eyes pierced the figure on his lap.

"I didn't know how to connect my observations together and I didn't know who to trust anymore. But she was there. Nosy might be the reason but I'm thankful that she cared and allowed me to confront my problem."

"So you were able to put you trust in her…" Ayane smiled, "If you were able to put the same trust in her, you would have won against us earlier."

"Hmph!" Honey brown head shifted toward the window.

"Did you know putting trust in someone helps you to mature?" the motherly voice questioned. "Put your trust in her so you can grow as a person."

"So seems like you got your future bride there." The driver gave a final turn.

"Though not if she comes back in this condition after every family get together. " The front seat passenger laughed.

_Put my trust in her?_ Tezuka wondered as he opened the car door.


	19. Chapter 19: Let's decide this together

Disclaimer: If I owned Prince of Tennis, most of the guys would have found girl friends by now.

Hey guys! I hope this time you guys didn't have to wait as long! Bleh though I took close to a month sorry!!

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Izaquix078: Thanks that's so sweet of you!!!! I really appreciate that you tell me my stories make you laugh. It's really hard for me to think up of humorous stuff but I'm glad I accomplished some of it. Wait all of my stories? Does that mean "Hiashi's mistake" too?

brownirises: hehe cliffies are my specialties. Noooo Taka-San Junior please don't kill me..

fightingpheonix36: Yeah if his father was cheating on someone, i would go snuggle Tezuka to comfort him. Heheh

Final Flare: Yes I should make an effort to update faster!!

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LittleAngel22493: Mr. Tezuka must be another hottie since Tezuka is one. Not hard to believe that he can be a two timer. Heheh. Aww i'm not that good of a writer but thanks! You make me blush! Missminnie08 is a really good writer by the way.

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That cheating affair was a commotion wasn't it? Oh well here comes more trouble...

Chapter 19: Let's decide this together

"Mina wake up!"

I felt my bed shake slightly.

"Mm" I rolled over, pulling my comforter up to muffle up the sound.

"Mina!"

I held onto the blankets tighter.

"MINA!!!"

My mom peeled off my blankets and I ended up rolling off my bed.

"Hmm?" I sat up, too weak to yell at the person who disrupted my sleep.

"You have a doctor's appointment remember?" my mom said, folding up the blankets that I was cuddling to my body.

"Hm…" I said as I rolled over to sleep on the floor.

"MINAAAA!"

Drowsily, I walked my way toward Hanno General Hospital. There is a tennis game in 2hours. The long awaited season was coming up. "Regional tournament" as it was called and it is the first step to reach the nationals.

_I have to make this check up quick_.

But even if I woke up late, there is a long line to wait for Dr. Kurosawa. Since I had 5 people to wait on, I decided to take a quick walk.

_Dr. Sakurai, Dr. Itoe, so many doctors, no wonder the septic is so strong. _

I was about to walk by the offices until caught my eye. _Dr. Yamaguchi…Wasn't he the one that Mrs. Tezuka sent?_

Since he looked over me when I was sick last time, I decided to go thank him.

"Your arm is getting worse."

I stopped in my tracks. _He's seeing a patient _

"You have to resist putting pressure on your joint, in your case, this is not tennis elbow." _Oh someone that plays tennis?_

"Hai" the deep baritone voice caught my attention. _Tezuka-kun…_

"My recommendation will be able to quit tennis. You can go back to play next year. It's better to take care of this before it gets worse."

"No doctor! I'll be careful." _Tezuka kun…_

Panic was apparent in his usual stoic voice. _Of course he won't quit tennis he just made the regulars._

"Then as your doctor, I have to demand that you reduce your practice time. I'll prescribe carisoprodol, it should relieve, muscle pain associated with your condition. When your elbow joint starts to hurt, tell me immediately"

"Hai Arigato gozaimashita sensei" I heard a chair being pulled out but I was too slow to hide from view.

"Aizawa-san" his eyes widened at the sight of me.

"Tezuka kun," I gave a small bow as though I had just entered, oblivious of his conversation with his doctor. The doctor turned his head around, thus breaking the uneasy tension between me and my neighbor. I gave a nod toward Tezuka and walked in without another word. He did the same though I felt his gaze studying my expression carefully.

"Hello, how are you feeling today?" the doctor gave me a pleasant questioning look. Apparently, he didn't remember me.

"Dr.Yamaguchi, I came to thank you for coming over last time to my house to give me medical care."

"Oh, you are the one with…" he faded off, hesitating with the final words.

"Yes, sir, I'm aware of my condition, I just wanted to thank you for coming over at such time." I gave a low bow.

"You have a family doctor to check up on you often?"

"Yes, in fact right now!" looking up at the clock, I indeed need to rush. "Thanks again doctor!" I stood up and was about to dash.

"Wait! Who's your family doctor?"

"Dr. kurosawa!" I yelled back at the exit and took off.

"Kurosawa Keiske?" the elder stated furrowing a brow.

In the check up..

"So…how are you feeling these days?" the nurse asked while I stepped on the scale. "Um…I think normal…"

"You lost 5 pounds though…" she cocked a lovely brow, her dark brown eyes held a soft gaze, perfect appearance to be a pediatric nurse on my opinion.

"But you should talk about any change in your daily routine to doctor…."

"Hai.."

She finished my vital signs and seated me on a comfy brown chair. As I idly gazed around I caught sight of couple of anatomical posters and one poster that didn't fit in with the rest was: "Verb..just do it! (I don't think that's the usual slogan) the poster showed numerous sports and activities: basketball, swimming, tennis…right tennis.

"_I recommend you quit tennis." _

_How did Tezuka kun feel?_

I wasn't able to see his face so I don't know what his expression was but must have been heart trending. _What would I do if I was told that?_ Tennis to me was always part of my life. From when I was able to walk, I perched on the tennis bench, watching my father rally with my uncle. The green part of the court allowed me to feel persistence, the white lines on it gave me competitive nature, and the reddish brown surface provided me with relief when it was time for me to stand on it, signaling a changeover or end of a match.

_So how do I live without that?_

"Mina Chan?" Instantly, I blinked at the mature tenor voice.

"Doctor Kurosawa." I greeted along with my traditional bow. And the never ending questionings began between patient and doctor. It included usual inquiries like "Have you been eating well?" "Did you take any different medicine from your last visit?" "Did you increase any dosage of medicine?" and so on.

"I noted you lost weight since last time. Children your age does not lose but rather gain weight."

"Maybe that's because I started exercising." I told him proudly, "I joined the tennis team."

_After all he has a "verb" poster that promotes exercises. Shouldn't he be happy that I wasn't heading toward obesity?_

"Tennis?" I saw the doctor give a slight frown, "Such a vigorous sport is not recommended for your condition."

I furrowed my brows and held my hands together.

"When a patient has leukemia, they must avoid having bruises, cuts and all sorts of injuries that causes internal and external bleeding. It will trigger your immune system and call forth white blood cells, the problem of your condition."

_Oh please don't let him say the same thing Tezuka kun had to hear…_

"I recommend you quit tennis." My heart stopped but it started to pound harder.

To him, tennis is just a childish obsession that I will grow out of. Maybe it is, but somehow I felt offended. I stared straight at him, wanting to end the topic being discussed.

"Doctor, how do I know I'm getting worse?" he seemed to get the message that I didn't want to talk about my routine.

"Hemoptysis" he answered simply. "Or coughing up blood" he added when I stared.

"I had that once…" I declared quietly. _Was I going to die so fast?_

"Impossible, hemoptysis does not show up so early in stage. You must have taken something not compatible to your health." I tilted my head questioningly.

"You never told me you had frequent symptoms of dizziness, nauseous or excess bleeding anywhere."

_Something not compatible?_ _When I had hemoptysis what happened that day?_ I came back late that day because I ate sushi at Kawamura Kun's and I was there because…because I was drugged. _Drugged?_

"Are sedatives usually compatible with my health?"

"Depends on what kind…have you been taking drugs?" he game me a piercing look.

"Of course I have," I gave him an ironic smile. "I have a drawer full of anti cancer pills..."

"No…drugs that were not prescribed." I hesitated if I should tell him of the events but to avoid it would mean I have been taking drugs, which was worse.

"Doctor, will you believe me?" And the account of my kidnapping was told, though I cut down the details at the end.

"Whether I believe it or not is not the point but what caused I'm glad I found out why you had hemoptysis."

"It does seem like a hard story to believe but I ask of you to not tell my parents about this." I gave him a pleading look.

"Your parents don't know about this?!"

"Please sir." I begged, "They're stressed as it is. I don't want to add anymore stress." Reluctantly the white lab coat figure nodded and adjusted his stethoscope.

"Just do the best you can to avoid contact with medicines that I don't or other medical staff prescribe so that you can avoid anaphylactic shock. This can be caused by bee stings and allergic reactions. Also remember what I said, avoid getting bruises and cuts ok?"

I nodded this time and smiled.

"Now that smile assures me you don't take drugs or…do you?" I smiled wider, allowing him to judge and with a final thanks headed out of the hospital.

_Quit tennis I can't do that…_I thought as I slipped on my seigaku track jacket _but to be careful I can do. _I placed my duffel bag strap on one of my shoulder, _so I'm sorry Dr. Kurosaw, I can't do as you recommend_.

"Sorry did you wait long?" I questioned the sophisticated yet cold face.

"No…I saw you come back 15 minutes ago." He muttered as he moved from his planted position.

"Oh..." I gave a slight smile and he started our way towards the school. The sun was already high up, the warm, humid air betraying my feelings inside.

_She's quiet today_. Tezyka thought. _Is she trying to make me talk about what I was doing at the hospital?_ He gazed up at me but I gave him nothing more than a smile.

_If she's not saying anything why should he?_ But Tezuka was curious, very curious. _How much of my conversation with doctor did she hear? How long was she standing there before I walked out?_

"Um…"

"Ne… Tezuka kun, are you hungry?" I interrupted on purpose, "I made crunchy rolls."

I wasn't into engaging in a long conversation right now. I shuffled though my bag and held out a bento box.

"Want some?" I held it out.

"No thank you" the automated answer came and I didn't bother to ask him what I interrupted by shoving a crunchy toll into my mouth.

With that, he seemed to get my message and became silent.

The bus ride was emptier than I thought. Only the regulars and an extra from the boys and girls team were allowed to be present. So 18 people in total, including the 2coaches were seated in the bus.

"Aizawa san and Koishikawa san, are you ready?" Minamoto buchou turned around eagerly.

"I am so nervous! This is my first time in a competition." Koshikawa Miki who became one my good friends stated.

"You'll do fine." I gave a gentle squeeze on the hand. I noticed it was clammy and sweaty.

"Miki, you volley so well. That's an advantage in singles." The reddish brown hair seemed to blend in with her cheek as she blushed. I smiled at the girl next to me. Miki's such a gentle and friendly person but on the court she is an aggressive player, she can smash as hard as one of the boy regular which earned her spot as number 3 singles.

"You encourage others to do well but why are you so quiet today? Nervous?" Minamoto buchou clonked me on the head.

_Am I that readable?_ "I'm hungry" I pouted as I bit my lip.

"Again?" Miki exclaimed. "Weren't you munching before we got on the bus?"

"Yes and if I don't get off the bus soon, I'm going to munch on you red riding hood!" I bared my teeth and the four of us, including Hashimoto senpai who is sitting next to buchou roared with laughter.

In the aisle next to the girls…

"I'm so nervous Tezuka kun" Oishi trembled.

"Oishi kun, don't be such a worry wart." A slightly feminine voice called from the back. "Fuji Kun you'll take my place if I lose right?" The lemon shaped head looked up worryingly.

"No, I'll take your place if you faint." Oishi looked away as the feminine boy's smile broadened at the word "faint".

"Just don't get careless." The usual silent boy lifted up his glasses with one finger. "Your lobs should serve as a threat…moon volley was it?"

"Thank you" _To be praised by Tezuka Kun really gives me confidence. _Oishi smiled, an unknown warmth spreading throughout his body.

_Quit tennis?_ _I can't do it._ Tezuka thought as he flashbacked to the check up earlier in the day. _But the way what was she doing there?_

Hazel eyes shifted toward the next aisle but to see nothing more than the brown haired girl trying to bite the hair of the girl next to her.

_Never mind...she's in a busy state._ He thought as he glanced back at the window.

After getting off the bus…

"All right all of you remember to follow Aizawa. Remember to eat plenty, we still have 2 hours before we begin." Coach Ryuzaki coaxed.

Everyone gazed at me as I smiled and shoved another rice ball in my mouth.

When everyone had time to eat and drink, our captains registered and we were off to warm up. Miki and I partnered against Buchou and Hashimoto senpai. It's been awhile since I was able to practice with girls and I had to admit, it felt good being a conformist for once. Girls' speed was slower but their shots were more angled and planned rather than the bam bam bam that I was used to when hitting with the boys. When it was time to play against Midori Oka junior high, blue and white of seigaku met green and white of Midori Oka. Although I felt guilty to mock, their line up was similar to a sound wave. One girl was taller than the girl next to her by a head and a half, giving the line up a sound wave like pattern. However, since the boys and girl were intermingled in the line up, our line up had such pattern too. Especially because I had to stand between the boys number one and two singles who were third years. _Damn it_. I wished I can stand next to Tezuka kun since he is shorter than other singles but he is number 3. He's next to Miki _lucky!_ Minamoto Buchou and Yamato Buchou were at the head of the line to present the line up "Number one single of Midori oka is…" And so the line up went on. After the line up calls, we had a group huddle.

"All right we can do this!" Buchou encouraged.

"We have to win this and rise up to nationals!" Hashimoto senpai added "It is our last year." All third years nodded.

And we proceeded with a team cheer. "S-e-i-g-a-k-u can say hey seigaku hey seigaku oh! You can do it!"

The boys were the ones to go next, "Seigaku fight oh! fight oh!" very plain on my opinion.

Now it was now the opposing team's turn. The whole team chorused: "We are the tigers we can beat everyone, we can, I can, nobody else can go Midori oka! Rawr!"

"can can can… can can can..." Hashimoto senpai mocked quietly next to me.

"Senpai!" I scolded her, though we were having a hard time hiding our smiles.

"You have to admit that cheer was waiting to be teased." I had to bite back a smirk.

"And now…match between Midorioka and Seigaku starts on begins on court A." the intercom announced. Along with Miki, buchou and Hashimoth senpai, I cheered and clapped as hard as I can. Oishi Kun played fine as number 2 doubles. In the first two games, his nervousness showed as he stiffly stood on the service line and his partner's bossiness wasn't helping either. When I yelled "Go oishi kun!" some of the first years girls followed. Oishi gave me a wobbly smile and played more cautiously.

In time, his accuracy showed and he even showed us his special move, "Moon volley" pulling his match to 6-4.

When Miki was called out to start the number 3 singles match, a light tap on my shoulder made me turn around.

I came face to face with square rimmed glasses. "Aizawa san, can you warm up with me?"

"Sure," I smiled and left followed Tezuka kun with my racket in my hand. _He could have asked Fuji kun why me?_ Not that I minded of course.

"Aizawa san how much do you know about my arm?" It was very in his character to get to the point in his opening sentence, but it was out of character of him to question something about himself.

"I didn't get to hear anything…" I said calmly afraid that Tezuka may see through my lie. "I just heard 2 people conversing so I was about to get out but you came out."

"Oh…" Bony white hand gripped the equally white racket tighter.

Flash back

"Did you know putting trust in someone helps you to mature?" the motherly voice questioned. "Put your trust in her so you can grow as a person."

End of flashback

_I should trust her this time. _After all, he knew she was lying. He knew when she walked in. He thought it was a nurse when he heard someone walked in but decided it wasn't when the person stood rooted on the ground.

"The doctor recommended me to quit tennis because of my arm."

"Oh…" I replied This _is getting too out of character of him._ _What's worng with him?_

A moment of silence passed as we walked through a path where we were sandwiched by trees.

"So are you?...quitting tennis?" I cursed my curiosity which was gnawing my stomach at the moment. We came to an empty court but instead of walking toward the court, Tezuka leaned against the wall and I took the sign to sit on the bench.

"I don't know…" he said after a while.

For the whole time we were at the warm up site, we sat in comfortable silences, both of us thinking about if we should quit tennis or not. Until we heard the crowd cheer.

"I think it's your turn," Tezuka nodded and we both stood up, his white racket gleaming in the sunlight.

"Ne… Tezuka kun." I looked into his hard, serious hazel eyes. "What is tennis to you?"

I wasn't expecting an immediate answer as Oishi and Fuji hurriedly pushed him on to the court and I was bombarded with Miki.

"Mina where were you? Did you see my great smash? And that snap volley? Perfectly on the line. Omg I hate you! You shoud have seen it. So where were you?"

I smiled, "Soul searching."

"More like food searching" Buchou joined us as Miki and her began to poke me as punishment.

Tezuka played brilliantly, he was the first player to receive 6-0.

When number one single was called, I stepped forward, dizzy from my thoughts.

_I'm such a hypocrite, I expect Tezuka kun to answer all those questions I asked him even though I can't answer them myself. I'm sorry...Tezuka kun_

I said in my mind as I looked at the stoic boy who surprisingly nodded at me encouragingly. I smiled back and my eyes landed on buchou who was sitting on the row below Tezuka and was currently very loud at the moment. Seeing her so pumped up made me forget everything except to do well on my match.

_I won't settle for less than Tezuka Kun's score. _With such motivations, my performance was well. My concentration had never been better. I sprinted, I jumped, and I conquered, Well the game I mean.

"Total score seigaku girls 4-1, Seigaku boys 5-0. Seigaku wins!" The girls hugged each other and guys thumped each other on the back. _Well one thing is for sure._ Both Tezuka and I thought: _I can't quit tennis._


	20. Chapter 20: Let's what?

Disclaimer:

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Please review everyone!!! I'm really hoping to get to at least 100 reviews by this chapter!!

Chapter 20: Let's What?

"You played well." I said finally breaking the ice. "Like wise." Tezuka placed a firm grip on his duffel bag. _Must he end the conversation so soon?_

"I'm glad we placed first for both boys and girls. After all, Seigaku was seeded first for boys but girls were supposed to be second. I was afraid Kakunoki would win against us." Indeed kakunoki was a trouble for the girls and though not for the boys.

"I thought we would be placed second when girls doubles lost their matches consecutively."

Luckily the singles: Miki, buchou and I came through.

"You motivated me" I continued with a smile. "Seeing you try so hard even with your arm injured, I never wanted to settle for a score less than yours." I was expecting a smirk or a softened expression but instead I got a frown.

"You should never compare with others. Never settle for less than your best." I felt a stab in my heart but I forced a smile.

"But even so, no one else could go beyond your best. It was all straight 6-0." I knew what he said made sense but I felt hurt. It was like giving a compliment and have it ripped up into pieces. But then again, Tezuka kun must have been grumpy due to his arm. Fortunately, something else caught my attention.

"Isn't that Oishi-Kun?" I tugged on my companion's sleeve. We peered from behind the walls of the park. Oishi-kun seemed to be hitting against a green container.

"So how was your game nyah?" the voice with a mewing suffix led me to the figure perched on the container. _Kikumaru kun…_

"When you were gone, I was practicing by myself. I was so lonely."

"What did you practice?" Oishi questioned as he continued to rally against the green container.

"Um…trampling, flips and cartwheels!" the red head made a gesture that looked similar to licking his paws…oops sorry his hands.

"Are you sure that wasn't just for fun?" both boys erupted into laughter. Instead of giggling with them, I turned around to meet Tezuka's gaze.

"Ne…Tezuka kun, did you notice this about Oishi kun?" By this, I meant his control and accuracy. Even while talking, laughing or whatever action, Oishi was continuously hitting the same spot, creating a dent on the green metallic container.

"Keep it up Aibo! We have to train hard next year so we can become doubles partners! We're gonna be head for Seigaku doubles number one! Nationals or kantou here we come!"

"I didn't know they we're such good friends" I began but to see the chestnut head walking back home, uninterested. "I bet you want to say eavesdropping is not my thing right?"

"Hn."

"But tell me, you as well as I know that Kikumaru kun didn't really like Oishi kun. After all, when Yamato buchou selected Oishi-kun to be a doubles regular, Kikumaru kun played a match against him to take his spot."

Silence…

"Besides Kikumaru kun said 'singles are for men!' what made him want to play doubles?"

"Golden pair" the glasses glinted in the sunlight.

"Huh?"

"They're working toward becoming Seigaku's best doubles for all times."

"But Kikumaru kun said…"

"Kikumaru has good doutaishiryoku. As you know from practice, he can follow the tennis ball no matter how fast it is. And with that talent, he realized he can't play singles with his abilities. No matter how acrobatic he is, there will be many flaws when he plays singles." I was also surprised that Tezuka can say more than one sentence in a conversation.

"When he saw Oishi's precision and accuracy, he realized that's what he needed to win in a match."

"Oh…" I caught on, "Wait how do you know all of this? I doubt you stalk them do you? And I'm usually with them during class time."

"You don't change with them do you?" Hazel eyebrows lifted up slightly to say _Do you have common sense?_

"They talk about it in the locker rooms?" Tezuka nodded, exasperated. "And you're eavesdropping on them?" I grinned

"It's multi-tasking." He explained bluntly.

"Sure…" At this point, Tezuka just seemed so ordinary. He was just like any first year boy except that he was better looking than most of them. Quiet a good catch? But I brushed such thoughts away when I had an idea.

"I know what I can do to cheer you up!" He immediately furrowed his brows. The idea to be announced wasn't sounding too good.

"I'll make you lunch for you tomorrow!"

"No, it's unnecessary." The expected answer came.

"In your case, you need to eat more yellow-orange produces to strengthen your bones and prevent any joint pain." I continued, tuning out any arguments.

"Then we'll switch lunches tomorrow." The robotic voice sounded.

"Huh?" the mention of switch stopped my health lecture.

"We'll exchange lunches tomorrow." Tezuka's voice never wavered on the commanding tone.

"Ok then…" the gear in my head spun. "Since I'm making your lunch personally, you have to make my lunch personally ok?" Without waiting for a confirmation, I rushed into my house.

_This was not part of the deal. I never cooked before._ Tezuka stood dumbfounded in the middle of Aizawa/Tezuka property.

"Oh by the way, " I poked my head out the door. "I'm experienced in cooking so I can tell if you made it or not." Tezuka stared wide eyed as I shut the door.

_Tomorrow morning will be welcome to hell…_ the left hander opened his own gate and disappeared.

Next morning….

"Mom get out!" I pestered for the third time

"But Mina why do I get such a plain bento?" My mom questioned, attempting to snatch the incomplete colorful bento from the table.

"I told you it's for Tezuka kun!"

"Why not make both bento special?"

"Because Seigaku has a match in an hour?"

"A bear shaped inari and kani roll doesn't take that long…"

How much I troubled her when I was young, I don't know but this was not the time to repay the debt.

"Then you make it mom!" "I never thought my daughter will betray me for her boyfriend!" she pouted.

" I didn't betray you!" I squeaked as I took out the Inari from deep frying. "Mom, Tezuka kun's health condition isn't good, I told you. This is my way to make him feel better." With a smile, my mom shrugged her shoulder. "Ok. I'm done teasing you. I'll be late ja!" Unexpectedly, my mom stole a freshly fried egg roll and disappeared from the counter before I could throw a kitchen towel.

"Oh Mina! I keep forgetting to ask you. Why my slacks and dress shirt reeking with are sweat?"

_Eek_! I thought as I shaped out the ears and paws from the fried egg. _Well I did play tennis in them._

"Oh I forgot to wash it for you after you wore it last week."

"Really? I haven't worn this in a while though…" _ignorance surely is bliss. _

At the Tezukas…

"Kunimitsu why are you in the kitchen?" Ayane Tezuka yawned. At the first syllable, the said Kunimitsu dropped what he was holding and turned around to deny any view of what he was doing.

"Morning, mother." He gave an expression that would be considered half a smile.

Ayane shivered. Whenever her son did that it was creepy and with a creepy smile came an up to no good event.

"What are you hiding?" the elder Tezuka said trying to overpower her usual stoic son. Was that a cutting board laid out in front of her son?

"I hope you're not trying to practice karate with that." Ayane shook a finger at him. "You have to start with a cardboard then you can try chopping a cutting board."

_What is she talking about?_ Ignoring his hallucinating mom, Tezuka placed a pan on a stove and cracked an egg.

"Anata! Call 911! Something is wrong with our son!" Tezuka gave a long sigh. This will be one long morning.

After the cooking frenzy…

"For me?" I smirked up at him as he handed me a plain white bento. But the smile wasn't returned. In fact it was reciprocated into a glare.

"Had fun cooking?" I placed my box into his grip.

"Hn." Was all I received but I'm sure things did not go so smoothly this morning in his kitchen.

_Things had gone rockier than rocky road ice cream._ Tezuka thought.

Flashback…

Being the perfectionist of the name Tezuka Kunimitsu, he carefully measured with a ruler where the centroid of the egg was.

"The circumference is 2 inches so crack it at 1 inch." He marked the middle of the egg with a pen and was ready to bang the white sphere against the counter as his mother usually does. But at that moment an ear piercing shriek was heard.

"Kunimitsu! I told you not to practice karate in the kitchen." _I woke up 2 hours earlier than necessary and I still wake her up…_

"Kunimitsu…playing with fire is not safe you know that…go back to sleep. It's only 5 am…" his mother pleaded with curlers all over her hair. Which may explain why her brain wasn't functioning well.

"Did someone leave the stove on? I smell something burning" Tezuka Kazuma roamed down the stairs aimlessly. However, his eyes snapped open when he reached the kitchen. "Who's that holding a knife?" he roared, "If you're a robber you better get out. I have a phone next to me! I'll dial 911!" The left hander sighed, not only was he waking up the whole city but he has to deal with hallucinating parents and gooey egg mess that he made when his mother shrieked, not to mention the incomplete bento. _I thought my family was normal…The aizawas are more sane than us. Actually, the only irregular person is their daughter…thinking of making me do these things._

End of flashback

The bus ride today was noisy, no other word for it. Minamoto Buchou came up with the idea to sing our school alma mater to show school pride, even though most boys suddenly found the windows more interesting to look at. (I won't enter a song here because I'm too lazy to translate!)

"Wow I didn't know there are this many schools in regional tournament." I hung my duffel bag over my right shoulder. "If anything I thought higher level competitions had lesser schools playing?"

"It's definitely higher level here," Hashimoto senpai declared, "But you have to remember this competition covers more area in Japan." I nodded in agreement.

"There are a lot of schools here but we have to watch out especially for that school." Minamoto Buchou jumped in and pointed at a certain school where one side of their uniform top was blue-violet and the other side was white.

"That's Hyotei, the number one seeded school that have been wining for straight five years now."

"Wow but…" I hesitated.

"Hm?" Both of the senpai turned around.

"They're rich right? They might have had private coaching."

"Eh…yeah they're known to be rich but how did you know that?"

With a slight snigger, I leaned closer toward my seniors, "because I see an over decorated monkey there."

"Where?" they whispered.

"Under that parasol. He's sitting on a chair drinking juice. And there's a giant next to him squatting."

"Oh!"

"You mean that raven haired boy with the big mole right?" I nodded instantly."

"He does look like a monkey!"

"Why does he keep flipping his hair with his hand? Is he a girl?"

Unconsciously we had to snigger and it was to the point to where it was audible.

"Oi" the boy seemed to notice.

_Oops…_the three of us looked at each other guiltily. He seemed to have caught us in making fun of him.

"If you…" He started.

_Shall we run away?_ We exchanged glances. It was never good to start anything with rivalry schools.

"…want to go out with ore-sama, you have to wait in line." He pointed at the group of drooling girls about 2 feet away from the parasol.

Our jaws dropped. Did we just hear him right?

"Minamoto! Hashimoto! Aizawa! What are you doing there?" Ryuzaki sensei called. Sniggering, we headed toward the voice calling us.

"Oi! Just because you're from other schools, doesn't mean you can't be my fan! Just sign here!" the boy with blue violet hair called, waving a thick address book.

"I'm afraid a low life like me is not good enough for oresama." I smiled well naturedly and walked back with my senpais, while we stifled a small laugh.

"Hm…she admits she's a low-life, that must mean oresama's prowess must be more noticeable and sparkling today. Right kabaji?" Atobe keigo smirked, keeping one his ear open for the shouts and praises from the fan girls in the back.

"Usu!"was the loyal giant's answer.

"Ruzaki sensei, long time no see." A gentle voice greeted.

"Banji!" I traced the male voice back to a short old man.

"He's Ryuzaki sensei's eternal rival." Hashimoto senpai answered my questioning look. "Like years ago, Seigaku was favored to be first place in Regional. It was the year when you know that ex-professional tennis player; Echizen Nanjiroh was on the team."

"Wow that famous samurai was from seigaku?" Of course I knew Echizen Nanjiroh, he was the only person dad talked about when he taught me tennis.

Flashback

"Mina bend your knees more! You see how Echizen Nanjiroh is doing it? Shape a nice L there!"

"Owieee…"

End of flashback

_Boy do I need to thank him for all the hardships I went through when dad tried to make me a carbon copy of him._

"Yup and Ryuzaki sumire sensei was the coach!" Hashimoto senpai grinned at my widened eyes.

"But that means Ryuzaki sensei must be really old!" I concluded bluntly.

"Aizawa repeat what you said!"

_Oops what sharp ears._ "I meant I must be getting old quick. Hehe…." I waved it off.

"So then…Seigaku was favored to win against that certain school." Hashimoto senpai continued. "But because Banji sensei came to coach the school, somehow their play changed and Seigaku lost all matches except Echizen Nanjiroh's."

"Banji sensei's tranquil and patient coaching seems to affect the athletes. So we really have to watch out for his school." Minamoto buchou added.

"Oh…" I gazed at the very ordinary looking old man.

"Hurry up old man!" a brusque low growl made me look up. The owner of the voice was a boy as tall as Yamato buchou though, certainly not as good natured. His skin was deadly pale but his muscles well toned.

"Who's that?" I questioned Minamoto buchou.

"No idea." She whispered, "He must be a freshman from Yamabuki. I've never seen him around. He 's rude talking that way to his coach." The boy seemed to sense us talking about him and directed his gaze on us. His eyes were hard and sunken. To me, it wasn't filled with malice. Rather, it was just cold like the glacier that stopped time seemed to stop in the ice age.

"What are you looing at Akutsu?" A cheerful voice, contradictory to his companion interrupted.

"Lucky! You spotted Seigaku girls. I went to go spy on them last time! There are a lot of pretty girls there!" the orange-brown haired boy seemed to be going through puberty with that voice change.

"Ne ne." the boy started to cling around us. "I know the schools here pretty well do you want me to show you around?"

Clunk!

"Oops my hand slipped." Minamoto buchou smirked. "I'm a 3rd year. I know the courts here better than you, freshy. Let's go guys!" Hashimoto senpai and I followed. "Yamabuki is such a weird place…There's a guy that drools at sights of any girls, a zombie looking guy that is especially rude and a senile coach that smiles at anything. "Buchou…" I said as my conscious reminded me not to be rude.

"I have to admit, add the guy from Hyotei and this while tournament is filled with …anti-conformists." Hashimoto senpai analyzed.

I believe she replaced anti-conformists as a synonym for weirdoes.

"Actually, that tangerine head wasn't bad looking…a lot better than that zombie boy who looked like he woke up from Nightmare Before Christmas."

"Really?" I smiled, "I find that silver haired boy strange but beautiful…" my senpais stared at me, eyes as big as microscope lenses.

"I told you this tournament is filled with anti-conformists." Hashimoto senpai thumped buchou on the back. "We have one in our own school!"

Luchtime…

"Wait!" I quickly sat down next to Tezuka as 3 heads turned around to stare at me. "We have to do this formally."

The 3 freshmen boys gave me questioning looks. "Sorry Fuji kun, Oishi kun, you can continue." I smiled as I poured a cup of tea for two. "Let's open it together." I stated as I laughed at Tezuka's scrunched up face.

"But why today Aizawa-san?" Oishi-kun curiously asked as he took out the chopsticks from his mouth.

"Because…" I started.

"Can we eat now?" the chestnut head interrupted exasperatedly.

"Ok." I winked a 'You'll see' at Oishi.

"Wow it's an animal farm…" Fuji and oishi muttered as Tezuka's eyes widened also. Right, my main theme was a zoo in his bento: bear shaped inari, egg covered fox, panda created by cutting seaweeds and a pig made by arranging BBQ meatballs. On the side was chopped lettuces, flower shaped carrots and takuwon to represent a flower bed. "Wow it's so precise." I muttered as I examined my lunch. The egg rolls were cut perfectly and rolled up into cylinders and he must have beaten the eggs for awhile since the yolk and the white was well mixed. The rice on the side was pure white and molded into perfect 2x2 inches squares with the corners of the rice balls sharp. The meat balls were also cut into bite sized squares. The crab salad was the only thing that was not looking precise because the ingredients had to be mixed together. Though I'm sure the ingredients were precisely measured.

As Tezuka indifferently picked up the fox sushi with his chopsticks, I dug some of the crab salad and placed it into my mouth. Before I could savor the flavor, something went wrong…

"Choo!" I sneezed shortly after I swallowed. "Choo! Choo! Tez..choo! …kun what did you choo! Put in…" I pointed at the salad, one hand pinching the bridge of my nose. "It has a really strong taste."

"Spices and mayonnaise…" he looked worriedly as he handed me a tissue.

"How much?"

"2 table spoons of sugar, salt, mayonnaise, pepper, and MSG."

"Heh that 's Tezuka, precise with everything." The girly tensai chortled.

I bit my tongue back as I smiled with all my effort. _No wonder my tongue is going through an electrical shock, there is so much pepper in here._

"You mind if I try some, Aizawa san?" I tried to warn the cerulean eyes mentally that it wasn't safe, but with nothing but a smile in return.

I quickly shook a no but masked my eagerness to get rid of the dish as to not offend the cook. Tezuka, Oishi and I were mesmerized as smooth white hands picked up some white and green mush with chopsticks and elegantly placed it into his mouth. What we were more mesmerized by was when those pink petals called lips curved into a smile.

"Tezuka you're a good cook! Want to try some Oishi?"

For a moment, the silence was deafening. Tezuka and Oishi knew quite well that their fragile looking companion had quite an acquired taste, after all his favorite dish is wasabi rolls as he had stated in his personal introduction.

Judging by Oishi's and Tezuka's bewildered expressions, neither wanted to touch the dish.

Wanting to break the heavy tension, I dug into my bag. "I made snacks too."

Tezuka wasn't able to erase his bewildered expression due to what I was holding. "Smiling Tezuka shaped cookies?" Oishi spotted.

"It's Smiling Tezuka-kun fortune cookies to be exact."

"Are those green dots wasabi?" the acquired taster asked, overjoyed as he shoveled more salad into his mouth.

"Sorry Fuji kun, that's candy glitter." I smiled as Oishi breathed out a sight of relief.

"Did you say fortune?" I watched as the owner of the voice beheaded a panda.

_Note to self, do not make any more animal shaped sushi, it's getting pitiful to watch them being eaten._

"Yup, have a cookie," I passed around the bag, "…flip it around and read it."

"Do what you think is impossible," Fuji's innocent smile turned into a grin.

"Don't let one problem take over your mind." Oishi read and scratched his head

"Heh, sorry if it sounds random, I got it from magazines."

"No, it actually applies to me." Fuji licked the green candy glitter to see by any chance it may be wasabi.

"Tezuka you haven't told us yours." At the sound of Oishi's voice, I was also curious but Tezuka was silent and clutching at the object in his palm.

"Don't worry Tezuka-kun I won't call you a cannibal for eating it." I joked.

His silence was leading me to think that he doesn't like the smiling Tezuka fortune cookies.

"What does it say Tezuka?" Oishi was even more intrigued and tried to look over.

But before he was able to read it, "Oishi! Fuji! Go fill up the water tanks!" Ryuzaki sensei called.

"You'll tell us later right, tezuka?" Fuji winked.

"Don't worry about it." The stoic boy advised as he covered the cookie. I was puzzled. As I have said, I made fortune cookies, not premonition cookies, so nothing bad was written on any of those smiling Tezukas. After the two boys left, the silence was getting uncomfortable.

"Um..Tezuka-kun I'm going to take a nap. I woke up pretty early today."

_I'm sure you did._ Tezuka mentally said as Mina's breathing evened out. The chestnut head carefully studied the edible image of himself. Unlike him, the image was smiling a toothy grin. He turned the object in his hand. "This will strengthen your bone" it said. _Found it in a magazine? What a bluff._ The corners of his mouth started to lift even without the owner's permission.

_Thank you for caring_…

He brushed the chocolate strand out of the sleeping girl's face.


	21. Chapter 21: Bipolar, Explosion,Nosebleed

Disclaimer: I will own prince of tennis when I am 10000 years old.

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Chapter 21: Bipolarity, explosion, nosebleed?

"What's the address again?"

Round framed glasses thoroughly searched the street.

"7121 Kamiseya Ave." I answered exasperated.

We've been waiting for 30 minutes trying to search for that orphanage.

"Not in your smiling mood today?" My neighbor asked amusedly.

"I would be if I was in your position!"

Right, compared to Tezuka who was carrying a thin book, I was shouldering a large backpack, two rackets and a bag of activity kits.

"No one told you to carry so much."

Today we along with 1/5 of Seigaku freshman class was supposed to meet at Kamiseya Orphanage to spend time with the kids there. Because we don't know which kids we'll be assigned as our little sister/brother, I decided to bring all sorts of activities that will suit any age and gender, but to find my companion simply carrying one thin paperback.

"Now can we say we're lost and ask for direction?" I panted, desperately trying to catch up with the owner of the long legs up ahead.

"No, we're in the right city and state." The deep voice responded.

_Great…and I thought he was reliable._

"Oh it's here." I let out a sight of relief as we entered the gate.

"Even if government funds this place, it looks run down." I commented.

"Our government is more fixed with spending money for OPEC."

"True…"

The said building was a run down sky blue color, roughly rectangular shape with windows that looked like they kept prisoners inside.

"Aizawa-san! Tezuka! Over here!" Near the enormous shaggy tree, there was a colorful group of Seigaku boys and girls unlike the usual green, black and white of our uniforms. "Aizawa-san I was so worried! You remember we have to be in charge of assigning the kids to the students right?"

"Sorry! We got lo…" Tezuka shot me a glare. "I mean Tezuka-Kun woke up late." I grinned satisfied.

"Anyways, here's the census of the kids here." Oishi caught Tezuka's fuming expression and backed away towards me.

"Can we match up randomly? Except separate them according to gender?" there were 120 kids on the list and we didn't have all morning to match up.

"Ok, I'll line up the students. Can you go tell the head of the orphanage?" I nodded and ran off toward the building.

The head of the orphanage or more specifically, Ms. Kume, was a bright and friendly teacher contrary to the atmosphere that the orphanage gave. She happily led me to a group of children varying in ages. The children were well…gloomy, unhappy and insecure looking. Nonetheless, I smiled a warm smile. _Heh wonder which one I have to cheer up…_

"I'm sorry they've never received visitors before, they maybe shy.." Ms. Kume added as my smile was returned with pug-like expressions. Along with Ms. Kume, I headed toward the grass field. One by one, the Seigaku students held their little sister/brother's hands to show the pair up and went off to spend their next 6 hours. Oishi-Kun took the hand of the last boy and I was about to do the same for my little sister but to find that all girls were gone.

"I thought the number of students and kids were equal?" I questioned.

"Yes, I was debating whether or not I should put her in your care." Oishi cocked his head in confusion.

"She's dumb." Ms. Kume stated quietly.

"Huh?" Oishi and I both rather exclaimed. "As in she can't speak." She calmly explained. "Mina Chan come with me." I nodded at Oishi as to say "good luck" and followed the young lady.

I passed by the rooms where the kids slept. It was dark, the curtains faded and dusty. 5 futons were squeezed in each compartment, the pillows were almost flat and the walls were written on and nasty yellow.

"They're all growing children here." Ms Kume said as she traced my gaze. "We have to concentrate on spending the funds on their nutrition rather than their living environment." "I understand," though I felt very sympathetic for the kids. "I really admire you Kume sensei for handling this job. It's as though you have to raise 120 kids of your own."

"It is very stressful," she agreed, "some kids come in physically and psychologically damaged. But as time passes, my pity for these kids turns into love. And because of that, I want to try my best to raise them as happy as ordinary people."

"This orphanage sure is lucky to have you." I said sincerely.

"You're sweet. But I don't deserve all the credit for the growth of the kids here. I have other staff that nurtures the kids. And I'm grateful for students like you. Oh it's here." She stopped at an isolated blue door.

"This is where one of the staff sleeps. The girl came to the orphanage a week ago and she's still sensitive about the new environment. I'll tell you now why she's here. If the girl hears us talk about her parents, she'll start crying." I nodded.

"Akane was a perfectly healthy girl two weeks ago; until her parents and her uncle along with her went on a drive until they were going through an isolated road when a dog jumped out. Her uncle swerved to avoid hitting the dog and the car flipped over. The only people that survived safely was her, Akane. Her parents were gone immediately after the crash and her uncle is in coma. After that incident, Akane never spoke." I placed my hand over my mouth. "She has a wealthy grandma but due to the shock, she doesn't want to have anything to do with her."

"That's cruel..." I mumbled.

"The grandma lost so many people she loved including her husband 3 years ago. Seeing Akane would remind her of such sad memories."

"But that's selfish!" I gave an outburst. "Akane only has her left and the same goes to her! She should be thankful that her granddaughter was safe and treasure her."

"Shh..Mina Chan..." Ms Kume began but the blue door opened.

"Ms Kume is that you?" there was a tired looking lady holding up a girl of about age 5. The girl was undeniably cute. Her head was filled with short curly brown locks, her skin a bit too pale yet round eyes that held wonders and her sakura petal-like lips suckled her fingers as she gazed at me.

"Ms. Miwa, this is a student from Seishun Gakuen."

"But I thought you said…" Ms Kume immediately shook her head as she watched me reach out towards the girl.

"Come here sweety" I cooed and opened my arms toward her. The girl smiled to my surprise and reached out her tiny plump hands. When I was about to hold the fragile girl, Ms. Kume caught my shoulders. "I hope you can fill in the hole her grandmother dug in Akane's heart."

I nodded and gently took the girl into my arms. I felt crushed as the girl laughed or seemed to have done so since her mouth opened and her corn teeth showed but there was no sound.

"She can understand anything you say." The woman who carried her before said, "Just don't mention anything about her past." She breathed in my ear. I nodded and thanked both ladies.

"Your name is Akane right?" Large brown eyes squinted a bit and she made a nod.

_Good at least I have a way to communicate with her._

"My name is Mina, can you mouth my name?" her small lips opened and closed. "Akane dear, do you want to go outside to play with your friends?"

At that she strongly shook her head.

_That's right she came only a week ago and is sensitive about the environment._

She wiggled in my arms so I let her down and she pulled my finger (Mind you my hand was too large for her hand…) toward a communal playroom.

There were a decent plastic slide and couple of stuffed animals that must have been donated due to the tears and stains on them. Akane let go of my finger and climbed up the slides. It was hard to believe she was the girl who went through a catastrophe as she slid down showing a toothy grin. Before I knew it, she was next to me tugging me toward the slide.

"Eh…sweety, I'm too old." But the continuous tugging and the eventual pushing got me climbing on those ridiculously small stairs. I folded my legs in so that I can actually slide down rather than touch the floor with my feet.

"Wee." I said less than joyfully and forgot to stop myself. "Ouch…" I said as I landed on my butt.

Akane on the other hand was laughing silently.

"You naughty girl, you don't come help me but you mock me?" I caught her in a second and tickled her. That made her laugh even more but still no sound.

_That's weird…if she wasn't born dumb, how can she stop sounds that come out as reflex?_ But I didn't have time to ponder as the said naughty one was tugging me for another joyous ride.

"Akane chan, nee chan brought you a lot of goodies." I reached for my belongings that I had set on the side I reached in and grabbed jigsaw puzzles.

"Akane chan you see this?" I held one of the pieces. "Find me a piece that will fit here." I pointed at the crevice.

She got the hang of it and in a couple of minutes, she completed the puzzle.

Next I took out a book titled "The cat and the mouse."

When I was about to open the book, Akane hastily climbed into my lap. I couldn't help but utter an "aww…" and hug her securely to my stomach.

"There was once upon a time a grandpa and grandma who lived alone." Akane pointed to the cat. She seemed to like the appearance of the furry feline.

On a snowy day, grandpa left to gather wood for the fireplace. He heard a feint mewling and found a cat buried in a small mound of snow. He hurriedly carried back the cat to his house. Grandma and grandpa nursed the cat back to its health and loved it as if it was their child. One night, the cat caught a mouse trying to steal a rice cake. The cat held down the mouse by its tail and was about to take a bite until the small squeaky voice begged,

"Please don't eat me yet! Please let me nurse my mother back to health and I'll let you eat me."

The mouse led the cat to its hideout and sure enough, a group of mice were gathered around one mouse lying in a futon with ice pack on its head.

For two nights, the cat stole a rice cake and brought it to the rat's hideout.

But on the third night, the cat jumped up to get a rice cake but knocked over a bowl of rice grain in the process.

"Grandpa did you hear that? It might be a robber!" grandma who's become a light sleeper due to her age got out of the bed and trotted toward the kitchen behind grandpa.

There lying in the heap was their cat who landed on its back along with rice grains splattered.

"Oh…my" grandma muttered but the cat was determined to deliver the rice cake that was in his mouth. The two elders followed the cat to the rat's hideout.

"What a kind child." Grandpa and grandma hugged the cat as they saw the reason. The mouse walked up to the cat and said,

"My mom is well, you can eat me as I promised." But the cat didn't eat the mouse. After that, the mice gave their treasure which was gold and silver pieces to the old couple and they all lived happily ever after.

(Sorry I must have made the story less interesting than it's supposed to be. But I had to condense it!)

Akane turned around and gave me a silent giggle.

"Did you like that sweety?" I brushed back the dark tresses. "Akane do you like Mina nee

Chan?" she nodded continuously and hugged me closer.

"If you like nee Chan you can meet nee Chan's friends." I felt that I needed her to open up to repress her past memories.

She gave a small pout.

"We can see if you like them, if you don't we'll come back here to play ok?" The small girl in my arms seemed to be uncertain as I picked her up and headed towards the flower bed.

"Hi Minna" I greeted as I saw my 3 friends.

"Hey Mina! Cute kid is she your charge?" Hitomi exclaimed.

Count on Hitomi to make the first move. As Hitomi came closer, Akane grabbed the front of my shirt.

"Akane dear, that's one of my best friend Hitomi. Wave hi." I held her with one arm and used the other hand to take her little hand in mine. Each of my friends introduced herself and their charges.

"So what's your name?" Kaga asked but received a vigorous shake of my head.

"This is Akane, she's 5 years old. Let's all play together ok?" I said toward my friends and their charges. "So what were you guys doing?"

"Arranging flowers." Miyuki, the shy one answered. Which explained why they each had

flowers in their hands.

"Oh, that's right your mom owns a flower shop by the train station." Miyuki nodded with a soft smile.

"Teach us too." I sat down on the flower bed, which actually looked more like weed field. "How did you make yours?" I asked Miyuki's charge.

"Nee chan said you have to balance the bright and light colors."

"Oh and the sizes and the shapes of them too!" Hitomi's charge trotted toward us to show us her bundle.

"So which flowers should we pick?" I asked, glad that the kids are more social than the one in my lap.

"There's some nice cosmos over there nee chan." Kaga's charge must have felt left out and picked some white and pink cosmos and sat down with us.

"Thank you dear. Akane what else should we pick?" she climbed out of my lap and picked a dandelion.

"Akane chan you should pick that leaf there too. It looks pretty when you put it together. Hitomi's charge sat next to Akane. I smiled in relief when my charge insecurely looked up at the girl but nonetheless followed her lead and picked the fern.

"So what's the gig?" I could tell Hitomi was itching to ask that question.

"PTSD" I answered simply.

"Sorry I'm not a nerd like you and the glasses boys. (Tezuka and Inui)"

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It occurs when someone goes through a trauma and afterwards there is a change that greatly affects their normal routine. In her case, she can't talk."

"What happened to her?" Kaga spoke next, half keeping her watch on the kids.

"You must have difficulty reaching out toward her, Mina." Miyuki whispered after I finished the story. I shook my head as I picked some flowers.

"I don't really have a problem communicating with her but it's hard to get her to open up to others. I think she's into the one-on one thing more."

"But that grandma is a beep."

"Hitomi! She went through a lot of stress too." Miyuki reprimanded her.

"Yeah but she should make an effort to accommodate her own granddaughter." I nodded at Kaga's claim.

"Well, my priority right now is for Akane to be able to live comfortably."

"Wait you don't mean…" Miyuki caught on quick.

"Done!" I exclaimed and held up a flower crown.

At the same time, the kids rushed towards us and held a flower bundle for each of us. Akane held out hers for me. Even though the bundle was made from the garden of weeds, it was nice to behold the mix of purple, pink, red, white and yellow.

"Thank you sweety, did you have fun?" I was relieved as she gave me a small smile and a nod. "I have something for you too." I put a crown on her head. I was thanked by a tight hug.

"I want a crown too!" Hitomi's charge seems to have taken after Hitomi's talkative nature.

"I want one too!" "Me too!" the girls echoed.

"I think your onee chan tachi knows how to make it." I grinned as Hitomi groaned.

"Oh man Mina! You gave us more work!"

"Doesn't this make you feel like we're in the future? It's like we have kids of our own." Kaga stated as she finished up the crown.

"Haha that's so far ahead."

_Future?_ I repeated her words. _Would I still be alive?_ _Would God allow me to live through my disease?_

"Aizawa san!" A certain afrohead sprinted up the hill. "Can I borrow your rackets? I want to teach the kids how to play tennis."

"Sure." I pointed at the rackets I had set aside. "Oh, I'll come watch you."

"You guys want to come?" I asked my friends as I carried up Akane. "You can meet more friends." I winked and at that they stood up.

I understood why Oishi kun said "Kids" and not "kid" Tezuka, Fuji, Kikumaru were also in the tennis court.

"Akane, do you want to learn how to play?" This time I didn't push her to go learn it since it was the age of "boys are icky." Besides, the rest of the girls supported Akane's decision and decided to watch by the benches.

"Aizawa san! Can you get that for me?" A rough voice yelled from afar.

There near my feet was a baseball.

"Oh I'll get it Mina." Miyuki offered but I shook my head.

"I need to stretch anyways." True I was stiff from carrying the girl.

I put down Akane and ran toward the grassless land used as baseball field.

"Wow who hit a homerun this far?" I asked as I threw the ball.

"Me." Kawamura said sheepishly.

_Should have known. He gets so fired up when he holds something in his hand._ I laughed when I saw the pitcher, Inui kun, mutter continuously until his teammates coaxed him to pitch the ball. No doubt he was calculating endless statistics about the throw.

When I turned back, I knew something was wrong immediately.

A small figure with curly locks with unusually pink face was trotting towards me followed by a slender cocoa head. As I run back, it was confirmed that it was Akane followed by Fuji Kun and tears were streaming down her face like waterfall.

"What's wrong sweety?" I pried her arms away from my legs and gathered her up.

"What hap…" I was about to ask Fuji Kun and my friends as I saw disturbed faces.

"RACKETS ARE NOT USED FOR HURTING PEOPLE!" a deep voice thundered.

If voice could awaken the dead, this would have awaken a corpse that died 10,000years ago.

"What happened?" I questioned the boy that was following me.

"Eh… that boy over there teased her when she went to get the tennis ball for him," he said hesitatingly.

"Tease?" Hitomi roared. "That brat had the nerve to try to hit her saying 'let's see if hitting you would cause you to make a sound!"

At that I froze as I felt the figure in my arms tremble uncontrollably and more tears wet my shirt.

"I'm sorry Mina; I should have stopped her from getting the ball! I thought it was good she was trying to interact." Miyuki explained but I blocked out all sounds.

I stomped over to the boy that Tezuka had yelled at.

"Is this true?" I said quietly. The boy seemed quite shaken after Tezuka's rage.

"IS IT TRUE THAT YOU TRIED TO HIT HER AND MADE FUN OF HOW SHE DOESN'T TALK? ANSWER ME NOW!" I yelled as loud as I could.

I felt my ears ringing from my screaming or the deafening silence I couldn't tell apart. The boy nodded quivering and ready to cry.

"Don't you dare cry from what you did. You think just because you can talk you're superior? If you use your mouth for saying such things, you don't even need a mouth."

I calmed down and pronounced each syllable with poison.

I felt the child in my arm tighten her arms around me so I headed to the inside of the building.

"Sweety, don't cry." I said as I rocked her gently. My shirt was soaked to the point where my bra would be seen if I wore a white shirt that is…I mentally wiped the sweat drop off my forehead.

"I know! I'll sing you a song. That always makes me feel better." I searched for my "songs are friends" text book.

"You'll be in first grade next year so I'll sing you this 'when I become a first grade."

(It's a Japanese song so a translation may not sound too good.

When I become a first grade

When I become a first grade

Would I have 100 friends?

With a 100 friends

I want to eat rice balls on top of Mount Fuji.

_Ehh maybe mention of friends wasn't a good idea right now_. I thought but Akane looked up from my shoulders to my music book.

When I was about to sing the second verse, a knock sounded at the door.

"Oishi-kun." I muttered when I opened the door and I wasn't pleased that the boy I had yelled at earlier was behind him.

"He's ready to apologize." He began but I beat him to it.

"But she's not ready to accept, please find another time." And I shut the door.

_Ready to apologize? What is Oishi kun saying? That kid had to think about what he did to realize it was wrong? I know boys mature slower but come on…_

The more I thought about it, more steam was blowing up from my head.

Another knock vibrated through the door as I stood with my back towards it, if it's Oishi Kun again I'm going to yell his head off but it was Ms. Kume.

"Mina chan I heard what happened. I think I should just give more time for Akane to be in your care. Thank you for the effort but…"

"I'm sorry I need more time!" I cut her off and locked the door. When I got back to Akane, her tears were all dry though there were tear stains.

"What else should I sing for you?" she tugged on my arm and pointed at a picture of a bear chasing after a girl.

"Ok…it's called a Bear from the Forest.

One day in the forest, I met a bear,

I met a bear in a blooming forest,

I met a bear I met a bear.

The bear says

"Hey girl, you should leave"

So the girl runs afar, far, far away.

However, the bear is chasing after her,

The bear chases and chases.

"Hey girl" says the bear

"Hold on you dropped your earring" in his paw was a shell shaped earring

"Oh thank you kuma-san. To thank you, let us sing."

I barely finished the song when another knock was heard. I grinded my teeth with my lips closed and took Akane off my lap.

"Mina nee chan." It was Hitomi's charge followed by other girls and my friends.

"We have something to give to Akane chan. Can we see her?" I had doubts on letting them in but I couldn't say no.

Akane seemed confused and terrified but she couldn't hide from the girls since I was standing with my friends.

"Akane chan." Hitomi's charge began. I felt my heart crack when Akane seemed to give me a reproachful look at me.

"Akane chan we each made a crown for you." I smiled as corners of her mouth lifted and eventually showed her teeth.

"Did you guys tell them to do this?" I whispered as each of the girls placed a crown on her head.

Miyuki shook her head. "I wanted to suggest something but Kaga's girl ran toward the flower bed and started to make crowns."

"Mina nee chan is right." I heard Miyuki's charge say, "just because you don't talk doesn't mean you're inferior. We can find ways to communicate with you. So um…friends forever?" she hesitatingly held out a pinky while the other girls immediately attached their pinkies too.

I felt my heart warm up when Akane finally loosened the insecure fist she made and stuck out her smallest finger toward the girls.

"Friends forever!" the girls shouted.

"Were we ever so formal?" Kaga yawned.

"Nope, how we met each other was even weirder," I added.

"Yeah I remember I had to whack that guy since he was close to rubbing against your ass Mina!" Hitomi reminiscenced

"And you stepped on my English book, Hitomi that's how we met."

As we laughed, our laughter was joined by miniature version of us.

"So that means we should ask Ms Kume to let you sleep in our room from today on." I heard one of the girls say.

"That's fine with me." All of us turned toward the rich soprano voice. "Mina Chan, thank you so much." Ms. Kume caught my hand with both of hers. I quickly shook my head. "Without all of them, Akane wouldn't have opened up. Just like you said, it wasn't by my strength alone."

At last...

"Thank you all for coming!" the staff waived.

Seigaku students were finally able to exit the orphanage.

"Akane I'll come to visit you ok?" She pouted as she hugged my legs. "Go eat your dinner; your friends are waiting for you." I gave a final kiss on her forehead and pushed her toward her friends.

As I exited the gate of the orphanage, Oishi stopped me.

"Aizawa san, I want to apologize to you."

"For what?" I was in a good mood and I wasn't getting affected by any melancholy mood that the lemon head was in.

"For not watching my charge well and…" he mumbled looking at the ground.

"Oh, don't worry about it." I smiled and ran off.

"I practiced my apology so many times and she didn't even finish listening to it…"

"It's ok aibo but it sure makes an impact when a beauty gets mad. Your yelling didn't work on that boy, and Tezuka's rage was so scary nyah and Mina Chan's yelling got the boy peeing in his pants!" Kikumaru laughed as he patted his aibo.

"According to diagnostics and statistical manual of mental disorders 4th revision (DSM 4), she might have bipolar disorder. Also, her pitch hits the high G note when she yells." Inui scribbled along as he walked.

"Eh…I think she just exploded awhile ago, nothing serious." Fuji joined in.

"Tezuka kun!" I hugged the stoic chestnut head from behind. Somehow I felt extremely happy to see him.

"Weren't you extremely angry an hour ago?"

"Yup but I'm so happy happy now."

"That's nice…" Tezuka seemed to not want to be afflicted with such joy as he pried my hands from his waist.

"Are you still upset?" I couldn't tell the difference between his stoicism and anger; he was just too calm for his own good damn it!

"I always thought Takeshi senpai would be the only radical to use rackets to hurt others but I've been stand corrected."

"That's why don't you look forward to have your own child as soon as possible?" He gave me a questioning look.

"From going to the orphanage, I feel eager to have a child of my own to have to nurture, to educate and to simply influence them in what is right or wrong. I want my child to grow up strong, loving and kind with my care so I won't leave a hole in their hearts like the parents of the orphans did." Tezuka nodded and I definitely saw…

"You smiled!!" I exclaimed.

"Hn," was the answer as he picked up his pace.

"Wait do it again!" I shook his arm as I caught up with him.

"Please do not cling to me."

"Then smile again!"

"No."

"Hey I wasn't done with 'my ideal child' discussion!"

"Hn."

"I was going to ask you a favor."

"Depends."

"Want to donate me a sperm?"

"…" for a minute we reached absolute zero Kelvin.

"I'm just kidding!" I bursted out laughing and whacked Tezuka's back with a loud bam! "I'm so hungry see ya tomorrow!" and I rushed in before my tummy could utter a growl. During dinner time…

"I love you mommy!" I said melodically as I hugged her waist as she flipped an omelet. "What's wrong with you Mina?"

In the Tezukas…

"Kunimitsu, are you done showering yet?" Ayane called.

Her son had been in the shower for 30 minutes and dinner was getting cold.

In the shower room, Tezuka Kunimitsu was definitely more than glad that the shower water stayed cold for all 30 minutes of his shower time.

_She said she wants my sperm…_

A red liquid dropped onto the marble tile.

"Nosebleed…"


	22. Chapter 22: It's a lie!

Disclaimer: Me no own. But can I own POT, Ouran and Naruto characters at least?

Review replies!!

livelyrose: Thanks but I don't think I'm good enough. But maybe I should try it...more chance for me to spread the Tezuka love!

mariku-chan12: Nice analogy there!!!! Thanks for liking my oc!! Many ppl don't like fics with ocs but i'm glad i have readers like you and the others that read my story! Yes this is the story when Tezuka is a freshman. The other three will show up later in the story.

singer in the wind: no don't die!!! come back!!! I need you to read my fic!!!!!

alasforgotten32491: LOL you're right!

ShadowedSilverMist: Of course you can keep him!! The plushie with him as a waiter is hot looking too...

R.O.T.T: yeah I'm so sorry! I'm still permanent resident from Japan. So I'm practicing my English through here too. So please support me?? (Smiles a Mina smile)

yuuko0711: Hehe keep reading and you'll find out!

Izaquix078: (Joins Izaquix078) Hallellujah! Hallelujah! My lord one of the 1x10 to the infinity girls has fallen in love!

blackorchid143: Aww if it's not too much trouble for you. Will you review?? (Smiles a Mina smile) or if you prefer (smirk like Tezuka. Sorry that was just too fuglee)

Lien-Chan: Aww i wish i had the ability to make people laugh! Will you make me your apprentice??

Wingless-Crying-Angel: Keep laughing! I need to acknowledge that I was able to make people laugh!

kuro-chan10307: Oo Tez is getting punished! Must drag Mina over to come see this!

Thanks so much to other reviewers such as: unknown player,Moonlight19, leafninja95, fightingpheonix36, NekoGuyFan

White Alchemist Taya, vnienhuis!

I love question marks and dot dot dots! I hope you guys don't mind!

Oh man writer's block is not fun at all...I was stuck for at least 3 days!!! Oh by the way I hope you guys aren't getting tired of my story because I have a long way to go. Also, i changed the fic to t-rate just in case. Enjoy!!

Chapter 22: It's a lie!

Tezuka Kuimitsu can never be sick. The cough and sneeze was part of is dream, right?

"Beep Beep" a high pitched sound of the thermometer alerted Tezuka. Tezuka Kunimitsu almost never makes a mistake. He rose proudly until he was betrayed by his thermometer, 39.6 degrees Celsius it read.

"This" he wormed out of his bed "is a defnite fever." The stoic boy concluded as his body also betrayed him and he was forced to use the wall to support himself. At this rate, going down the stairs would put his life at risk.

"Kunimitsu, you're one minute later than our usual wake up time. What are you doing?"

_Have to give credit to my mother. Just one minute late and she knows something is wrong._ But he wasn't so thankful when Ayane Tezuka busted his door open.

"Kunimitsu! Wake up!" The said Kunimitsu calmly lifted his head up. "I don't feel well, mother."

"Oh?" as far as she remembers her son, nurtured with her care, she proudly nodded ,only got sick in 1st grade when he wasn't used to hiking in the snow.

"Aha! You were taking a shower for 30 minutes last night. No wonder you're sick!" Ayane pointed a finger at her son's nicely shaped nose.

Tezuka mentally wiped the sweat drop off his face that his mother didn't know he used ice cold water on his naked body yesterday. That piece of foolish fact might send her tearing at his flesh. So he didn't complain nor resist as she coaxed him back to his bed. "I'll tell Mina-chan you won't be going to school today."

Right that Aizawa girl was the cause of his present dizziness and he doesn't want to think about the exact quote right now, afraid that his temperature will rise at least 2 degrees Celsius. Maybe he'll, or must concentrate on his sleep right now.

At school…

"TEZUKA'S NOT HERE?" Inui Kun and I were the only ones smart enough to put earplug right before Oishi was able to let out his mother hen-like shrill.

"I never thought he was the type to ever be absent." Hitomi agreed while grimacing. "Maybe he's broken hearted from yelling at the boy yesterday. Nyah it so scawee."

"I don't think he's as delicate as you, Kikumaru-kun." I shook my head. "His mom told me something about he has a fever because he showered too long. Not that I understood the whole story."

"Did you say something to him yesterday?" Fuji's grin widened suddenly.

"I talked to him on the way back, but I didn't say anything offending." I looked at the smiling tensai reproachfully. _Was he accusing me?_

"Anyway." I cleared my throat "Oishi-Kun, before we go to class council meeting today, we have to go around freshman classes ok?"

"eh, why?" kaga interrupted. "Remember that orphanage we went to?" All of them nodded minus Oishi. "I was thinking we'll ask for fundraising ideas."

"Yeah, I think they need to renovate some part and some new supplies." Miyuki added. "Would we have eough funds though?" Kawamura kun said worriedly but his opinion changed once Fuji placed my eraser in his palm.

"MOERUZE! IT"S FUNDRAISING TIME!"

" So let's all follow his lead and suggest ideas ok?" I winked.

After the council meeting…

"Not bad…" I couldn't help but grin while Oishi shrugged beside me.

"I didn't understand most of what you said."

Flashback…

"And to conclude this motion, I believe that in addition to benefiting the Kamiseya institution, I hope to promote our school spirit. By adding such events in the year, it will raise our reputation and allow students to socialize…"

End of Flashback

"Don't worry" I assured the boy next to me. "It wasn't meant to be understood. I was biding time so that president will just get tired of listening to me and approve of freshmen fundraising.

"Good job but the first event is a class play. We don't even know what play nor do we know if our classmates are gifted in acting."

"Don't worry. Don't worry." I said joyfully as the mother hen continued to frown.

In our class…

Cinderella, sleeping beauty and snow white. As simple as these plays maybe to perform, the storyline is so well known that it's not interesting.

"I agree that these ideas are adorable." I said masking my headache, "However, let's try to appeal to a bigger audience than just a play for girls and kids."

Oishi kun sent an expression as to say "Worried now?"

"How about Naruto Shippuden movie 4? Or Harry Potter?" An energetic voice projected. "No Eiji, this is not going to be a movie theater." Oishi Kun immediately reprimanded. Most of the class agreed because the effects will be difficult to do, though some Naruto and Harry Potter fans were immensely disappointed.

"How about Princess Mononoke?" the whole class turned toward the quiet voice in the corner. I was surprised at the owner of the voice. As far as ever since I transferred here, she has never spoken aloud in class unless she was forced to, with a trembling voice that is.

"But would that be too violent?" Oishi Kun's simple question earned a dark red blush on Miyuki's face and I resisted the urge to clonk his head.

"I think it's a good idea" I smiled warmly toward Miyuki, "the story is well known in Japan and it gives us the chance to observe human destruction of nature."

"But…" Oishi Kun stammered.

"Well said." Kinomoto Sensei voiced his opinion. "But I must agree with Oishi that we must be able to have a clear plan to do this."

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"For example, this storyline involves complicated backgrounds and characters. How are we going to make sure that the stage will be realistic?"

"I was thinking we can have everyone bring in old brown or black clothes to serve as costumes." I said thoughtfully.

"And we can drench them in blood, I mean food coloring for the scenes of war." The whole class shivered at Fuji's suggestion.

"I like drawing bears! We can use those as masks!" one of the girls added and many of the students shouted suggestion.

"Um guys… I think we should discuss who gets what part." All students pursed their lips. "I think choosing randomly will be fair." I saw grimaces on their faces. "But we're fundraising through this play, so we'll have tryouts so the talented can get the roles." "We'll start off with Ashitaka." Oishi squeaked across the board with the chalk.

Even though this character is a quiet and polite gentleman, the boys that wanted to try out were outgoing, assertive and loud.

_Probably they want to hog the spotlight._ I thought until I saw Inui-Kun raise his hand.

"I have a question actually." He said when Oishi was about to write his name on the board.

"Are we allowed to nominate?"

"Umm yes."

"But Aizawa-San." Oishi reprimanded.

"The nominated will have a final say in the taking the position." I finished.

"Then I nominate Tezuka." A small smile escaped my lips since the person I predicted Inui-Kun was going to nominate proved to be correct.

The class on the other hand was letting out muffled giggles.

"Tezuka-Kun? Would he be too stiff?"

"He is the definition of polite and elite!"

"Tezuka Kun will be the best and I'll try out for Mononoke Hime so I can do the Kiss scene!"

But since he was absent, his consent will be decided tomorrow unless…

"Anyways, let's move onto Mononoke Hime." Oishi said.

Of course many girls raised her hands. But the whole class's jaw dropped when a smooth long white arm was raised.

"Can I try out?"

"Of course, Fuji-Kun." I smiled encouragingly. The cerulean tensai always managed to fascinate people with unique ideas and I was proud of him for that.

"Nyah noo!!! Fuji do you want to be an Okama (Guys that cross dress as girls)?" Apparently Kikumaru didn't have the same idea.

"You have to try out for a manly role, something omni-potent something…"

"Eiji, do you know what omni-potent means?" Inui questioned from 2 desks afar. "Nope nya but it sounds good when you and Mina-chan use it!" the class roared with laughter. "Oh Nya I got it! I nominate you , Mina chan!"

"Me?" I pointed at myself confusedly.

"Nya as Mononoke Hime." I could see Hitomi one row away trying to second the suggestion, but I was faster.

"Thank you but I have to help with the directing." No way I was painting red paint on my face and wearing heavy day earrings.

"So to conclude this, people who want to try out for these characters shall come to tryouts at the time listed and the rest will take part as the herds of animals."

"Everyone please bring in old clothes for costumes!" Oishi added hurriedly.

After school…

Should I go visit Tezuka-Kun? Or shouldn't I? I don't want to bother him when he's resting but it would be ill-mannered if I don't go visit him.

"Oi, Ore-sama is talking to you." Seems like I was too engaged in self-conversation as I passed by the park.

"Sorry," I looked up but my smile disappeared quickly.

The voice wasn't unpleasant but the expression the owner wore was full of arrogance. Purple hair, big black mole on the side of his face, huge white gold watch, crisp clean clothes, shoes made by an expensive maker…

"Oh!" I gave an outburst. "You're that overdressed monkey!" I covered my mouth quickly when I realized what I said.

His friends sniggered loudly. There was one sleeping soundly, not awakened by any noise.

"Ahem.." the boy continued as though the insult bounced off him. "Ore-sama allows you to date me."

"Huh?" I furrowed my brows. Is he mistaking me for someone?

"But I don't know you."

"You just referred to ore-sama as familiarity." He answered though I was an idiot. "But I don't blame you for wanting to get to know more about Ore-sama. Let's see Ore-sama is good looking, hair styling every 3 days, skin care every night…"

I would have walked away if his blue haired friend wasn't studying me through his spectacles like a predator watching a prey. To run away at this point would be similar to falling into a trap. After the first few words, I began to tune him out. Rather I found something else that was interesting to look at.

"Hey Atobe," one of his friend with a giant brown ponytail called. "I think she's only paying attention to your mole." He was right; I just found his mole peculiar since it was so noticeable.

"I don't blame you for wanting to stare at every inch of ore-sama."

Is this guy plain stupid?

"Um…if I preferred to look at your mole rather than your face, that's not much to boast about." I expected he and the rest of Hyotei, would be ready to jump on me and I should be bracing for a long sprint.

But to my surprise, they were howling with laughter.

"Tell you what." Atobe said trying to put a finger under my chin, from which I backed away immediately.

"You amuse me so I'll save you of the need to join them (the girls shouting "Atobe sama!" outside of the tennis courts) to compete your way up to date me."

"You're too kind" I scoffed sarcastically. "I told you I'm not good enough for you." "Here's a deal." The nerdy looking guy proposed "Play a doubles match against Atobe. We'll give you a handicap since you're a girl. He'll play on his side alone while I'll be your partner.

"Not bad Oshitari. No wonder, you're the prodigy of hotei." Atobe smirked, earning a higher pitched scream from the crowd of girls.

"Satisfied? Oshitari is one of the best players of Hyotei, a starter by the way."

"No" I said as I began to walk away. Who knew such mental people existed.

"Bad luck dudes." Shishido laughed, "Never thought she would reject both of you guys."

Continuing my walk…

So should I or should I not? But I didn't have to question myself as a pair of arms caught my shoulders.

"Mina-Chan, you're later than your usual time!" Ayane Tezuka crossed her arms in front of her chest.

_Well yeah…I wasted sometime with the Hyotei idiots._

"Can you watch Kunimitsu for me? A friend from Australia is here and today is her last day staying here."

"Oh…sure oba-san. How is Tezuka kun?" I asked as she ushered me inside.

"He's fine I'm sure he'll be able to go to school tomorrow." _Hehe I guess I'll tell him about the play tonight._

"Contact number is here, medicine is here, he knows the dosages and well, just keep him company because he hasn't been sick for a period of time so he might feel a bit insecure and lonely. Thank you!"

_Lonely and insecure? The Tezuka Kunimitsu?_

"Iterashai!" I sent Ayane off at the entrance.

_Let's see his room is second floor._

"Come in." the baritone voice I knew so well called.

"Hi Tezuka kun." I smiled at the vulnerable figure on the bed.

"Aizawa-san, yes, I'm feeling well. Thank you." Tezuka cowered subconsciously at the sight of the girl who took a seat on his desk chair uninvited.

She was the person who caused him to be sick. What is mother thinking of asking her to come over?

"Did you eat anything? Do you want me to make porridge for you? When do you have to take your medicine?"

_What is she? His baby-sitter?_ Tezuka Kunimitsu certainly doesn't need a baby-sitter dammit!

"No, it's fine. I will take my medicine at 7" he said contrary to his trembling heart.

"Ok, then today's Homework was…"

After awhile…

"So…just don't worry about the homework. You'll have a day to catch up." He nodded. "And do you remember we said we should fundraise for the orphanage?" I fidgeted. "We decided to do a play." _Not to mention I am guilty of the idea._

"And we're performing Mononoke Hime."

"Oh…"

"enurpleindaprotagonist." I said quickly.

"Hn?"

I inhaled deeply. "The class nominated you to play Ashitaka, one of the main character." Another silence began.

"But I don't know the story."

"You call yourself Japanese and you don't know Mononoke Hime?"

"I'm obliged to label myself as Japanese. But yes I don't know the movie." He mused, crossing his light blue pajama covered hands behind the back of his head. "So I doubt I can play the main…"

"Then I'll tell you the story." I scooted the chair closer to his bed. "I'll hand out the line's guide tomorrow to everyone tomorrow. So don't worry about memorizing them yet."

"You don't want to do your homework instead?" he questioned somewhat eagerly, hoping to wiggle out of his role.

"But I finished it." I grinned. "You just said you have to complete the line's guide." "That won't take long. Just copy and paste from online."

"I can read the book." He said.

"That takes too long." _And I want to make sure he knows his role. Oops I forgot to tell him there are tryouts, and the characters have not been officially decided. _

"So I'll make this short, read the book if you want details. Your role, Ashitaka, who is about 17 years old is supposed to be the heir to the Emisee clan but one day a tatarigami (literally, curse god) tramples through his town. Tatarigam was actually a giant boar named Nago that protected the forest. Nago was shot by the humans and the gunpowder that the humans used caused unbearable pain and flesh to rot, giving the appearance of a bloody ramen ball (Watch it on youtube! Type in Mononoke Hime) Ashitaka was forced to kill the boar and as he shot his arrow, the veins of the boar extended and wrapped around his forearm giving Ashitaka the curse. This curse is supposed to eventually eat away his flesh and lead to death. But Hii-sama, his clan's prophetess advised him to head west, which she found out where the boar came from and find out a way to rid of his curse. So Ashitaka starts his journey and his arm inflates whenever there was a combat and surge of energy was given to Ashitaka. Remember the boar hated humans so he gave energy to the one with the curse to encourage more killing between humans. As he travels, he finds out that Shishigami's forest is the sacred forest where gigantic and archaic animals live some including: 300 years old wolf god, 500 years old boar who crossed the oceans, shojos(the monkey spirit who plant trees in the night to recover the forests that humans destroyed.) As our protagonist passes by a stream, he finds two people being washed off by the current. One becomes conscious and explains that they are both from Eboshi's place which is across the river. Eboshi's place is inhabited by groups of women, men and the injured. Eboshi is a kind hearted women towards human, demonstrated by buying all the females slaves to make metals (Iron I think) and not fearing any illness, she bathes the injured and wrap their wounds with cloths. However, she is unfair towards the nature. She orders people to assemble guns that are powerful enough to destroy the whole forest with one shot so that the land can be used for human inhabitation. And it turns out she was the one that killed Nago, the boar that almost ruined the Emisee clan. She claims that by destroying the sacred Shishigami's forest, Mononoke Hime will return to being human. (She was raised by the 300 years old wolf god) and shishigami's neck has the nonaging and no death elixir that may recuperate the injured people that lives in her place."

"So basically," I was getting tired of explaining. "You act as the buffer between human v.s. nature conflict."

"I've never acted before." Tezuka said bluntly.

"Yes you have, you're not stoic everyday as I'm not able to smile everyday." _But she does smile everyday…_Tezuka thought. "But you keep that mask on anyways and that's acting."

"I don't act; I just like to stay quiet."

"Then what about when your doctor recommended you to quit tennis?" Hazel eyes opened a bit wider. "I doubt you were able to be as focused as usual."

_How did she know?_

"So don't worry about how you'll do, just have fun and experience something new, ok?" I smiled as he gave a small nod.

Then I extended my hand towards his forehead. "It looks like your fever is pretty much gone. But keep taking your medicine, it might come back."

He was so cute lying there, reminding me of Akane. Both of them are like small children, vulnerable and insecure about expressing their feelings but they willingly accept my opinions and thoughts. That is why I value them, because they acknowledge me and give me a sense of identity.

_What is the shameless girl doing?_ The conscience police alarmed the owner of the body.

_No clue, but come closer. I never knew she had such long lashes. _Tezuka trembled at the sneaky voice that came from the back of his mind.

_I never knew she had such ruby, soft lips, is her skin smoother than silk? We can compare it. _

Tezuka was at the breaking point as chocolate tresses caressed his neck. It was like eating a chocolate truffle, so soft and transitory but ever lasting on the sweet feeling.

"You have really nice eyebrows. But the arc is too high, makes you look grumpier than you actually are." I said as I moved my thumb from the forehead toward the linear bush. "So can I pluck it?" I was met with a scrunched up pug-like face.

"I'll make you some porridge. I withdrew my hand and left Tezuka's room.

After he made sure that his companion's footsteps landed on the last stair before he felt the spot where her hand had landed. Her hand was cool and soothing but it wasn't soft and smooth as her face is. Rather it was small, fragile and dry.

_Acting…it seemed so easy for her but how would he perform?_

After all, his sophisticated face almost never had the much experience of frowning or smiling and let god save him from crying. Who nominated him anyway? Whoever, it was, he'll make sure the person receives a full medusa glare, Tezuka version.

"Hmm I should add some green onion, it's good for runny nose." I hummed softly and skipped toward the refrigerator.

"Ouch," _did the corners of the counter have to be made so sharp?_ I rubbed the spot on the forearm sulking but I gasped at the sight of what I saw. There was a dark red bruise forming a second after I had collided into the corner and it was spreading like wildfire until it was the size of a rice cake. Afraid that excess rubbing may lead to bleeding, I stared at it, fear igniting in my eyes and heart. But in the corner of my eyes, I caught sight of a blue PJ figure.

"Oh I was going to bring it up for you." I said as I quickly hid my bruise from view as I grasped the porridge bowl.

"You said I was well right?" But he was not expecting an answer as he took a seat in the kitchen.

Tezuka Kunimitsu was trying hard not to look at anything other than the bowl of porridge. For a moment, he was in a moment of uh…hallucination…no, Tezuka Kunimitsu does not hallucinate, he was foreseeing…that's not close ether…but when he saw his neighbor and companion stirring the pot of porridge, he could picture her turning her sweet face toward him and say

"Anata, okaeri nasai, do you want shower, dinner…or me??"

"Are you ok??" I seemed to have burst a bubble when the tone of my voice caused him to drop his spoon. "You don't have to grip your spoon that hard, it isn't running away."

And his half a smile was disturbing to look at. His lips seem to tremble and the corners of his mouth lifted up reluctantly.

The bespectacled genius nodded quickly and took hold of his spoon again.

"Oh yeah, Tezuka-Kun, would you try some? My uncle sent it to me from Kumamoto." "Hm?" the supposedly stoic boy looked up but realized this was a huge mistake when he caught the chocolate brown eyed girl nipping at a strawberry innocently and lovingly. A rush of heat surged through his cheeks.

"Uh…I'm going to get my medicine!" he declared more hastily than he would have liked but this didn't matter now.

His nose felt like something was going to drip any second. Isn't this the feeling he felt yesterday? Tezuka thundered up the stairs as fast as he can.

"Um…boys sure are weird." I grinned as I tossed up the small medicine bottle up in the air and caught it in my hand. "Oba-san said the medicine is in the kitchen."


End file.
